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Negro Stars 



IN 



ALL AGES 



OF 



The World, 

BY 

« 

W. H. QUICK, ESQ., 

V 
ATTORNEY AT LAW, 

ROCKINGHAM. N. C. 



COPYRIGHTED. 



Lsyo. 

D. E. Aycock, Printer, 

Henderson, N. C. 



V 3 0^^-^ 



Q ;, 



rod. according to Act of Congress, in tlic Office of the Lihra- 
rian. at Wasliington, D. C, May iMtli, ISSi), by 
VV. II. QI'IC"K, Rockingham. N. (\ 





^ 



INUKX. 

Introductory, ;' 

Preface, ...'. 1- 

Fatherhood of God '•' 

P.r()therh(K)(l of ATan 1"^ 

Color of Adam and Eve -1 

The valley of Shinar -t 

Events. Beanty, Valor, Pro<;ress '■^>' 

Preeminence, skill of the early African -51 

Genealogy "'•_* 

Governments, Rulers, and the Punic Wars :^;> 

Jethro, Nimrod, and Queen of Sheba ^(> 

Zipporah, Bei-osus, and St. Auf»'ustine •*•" 

St. Catharine and Hannibal, '^^ 

Slavery, i^ 

Social relation of i-aces •_>■! 

Fall and Redemption of Africa i'>fi 

Phillls Wheatley, •. ff^ 

Cieorfte M. Horton "1 

William Costen '. pj 

James ^^)rten, If^natius Sanciio 'i'' 

Jlon.I. H. Rainey '9 

" H(m. E. 1). Bassett,Hc)n. A. T. Pansier Si 

/'Hon. ,J. T. Rapier,:/! (HI. J. R. Lynch S2 

Hon. J. .M. Turner, Prof. William Chavis, S3 

R. P. Brooks S4 

Hon. Edward Joi'dan S(» 

Mrs. F. E. W. Harper SS 

Benjamin Bannekei", S9 

George M. Williams, ^V 

Colored inventoi's, 9-^ 

/Hon. J. S. Leary 9'T 

V Hon. .1. AI. Langston ^.. * 97 

Htm's W. P., and G. L. Mabson 109 

Hon. J. C. Alman, H-'i 

Hon. W. C. Coleman 11"> 

/Hon. H. R. Revels l-'O 

.Judge M. W. Gibbs 1-^- 

Hon. I). A. Straker, Bishop .J. .T. Moore 12:i 

^ Hon. B. K. Bruce. Rev. R. S. Rives l-'T 

Denmark Vessie I'^O 

H(m. F. Douglass ; '^^ 

lion. A. Hanson. Alexandre Dumas, lo) 

Bishoj) W. F. Di<-kerson I'^C 

Hon. P. S. B. Pinchback " 1^57 

Hon. R. H. Gleaves, 138 

Toussaint I'Ouverture , 1:^9 

Zerah, Rev. A. E. Quick 140 

St. « hrvsostom, 14.S 

/Prof, j' C. Price 149 

' Hon. R. B. Elliott 154 

Hon. .1. F. Quarles l'"»<> 

.Judge J. J. Wright / lf)9 

Hon. A. .J. C. Taylor, Hon. George H. White, / 1(53 

Hon. .1. H. Collins. Colored .Jurors , 104 



.Iinl^if Ccory;*' L. I'vuflin lf|' 

Wcallli Mild Imsint'ss 1<>^ 

ThiMnv and practice of American Chiistiaiiit.v, 177 

Tlie Koniance of the Nejrro 197 

War of isli; 217 

Uev. A. M. I'.arrett ^19 

War Hetwe<'ii tlie States. ls«)i--<»5 225 

Nej^roes an Soldiers 225 

Miliken's l?eiid 232 

Capabilities and ()pi>ortunities 238 

Industry, I->iiiari(ipation Day 25S 

Kxtract from si»efrh of W. U. Quick 2(50 

(jorrPHj)ondence and Addresses 2()N 

./ 

DEDICATION. ^^ 



To THE Readinc Public'of the Uxited States, this 
Volume is Respectfully Dedk^ated with the Ardent 
Hope that the Faithful Reader May, upon a Care- 
ful Perusal, Join the Author In the Work of In- 
siMRiNc Race Pride, and in the Vindication of the 
RicHTS AND Claims of the Neoro, and in all that 
Pertains to his trie Physical, Moral and Intel- 
lectual Manhood— Growinc With the Growth of 
His Country, Believinc; that the Development of 
Iv\cH IS an Honor to the Other. 



WIJ.LIAM HARVEY QUK^K, Em- 

BY 

Hon. W. p. Mabson. 



SKETCH AND INTRODUCTION 



The Bubject ot this sketch was born near the toAvn of 
Rockingham, North Carolina, November the 14th, 185(i, 
of slave parents, namely : John Quick, who died in the 
month of August l^Hl, was a house carpenter of some re- 
pute and was claimed as the property B. A: H. Quick, of 
INIarlboro county, S. C. For quite a number of yearsJohn 
Quick was "his own hired man," giving forhistime $3C)(). 
per year. In this way he met Elizabeth Covington in 
North Carolina whom he afterwards married in the vear 
of 1855. Both ])arents were noted for sol:)riety. industry, 
honesty and frugality. His mother being the seamstress 
for all the white families in the neighborhood had but 
meagre o]>portunity to teach hei- boys otherwise than Iw 
counsel and example. On a cof)l Thursday Morning in 
the month of March (t^vas the 9th) 18fi5, during the 
passing of "Sherman's Raid," Mr. Quick was accidently 
wf)unded in the lower thigh by a heavy charge from a 
nnisket. But for the ])atient care and attention which 
only a true mother knows he never could have recovered 
from his unfortunate affliction. 

Though a youth, Mr. Quick espoused an inordinate 



(> NhGHO 8TAUS IN Al.I, Av.Es or thk Wori.I). 

ivlisli lor l>(j(^ks ami their beaurit'ui contents. * * * 
HeinpiTil»erin^- as lie doubtless did that, 

■TIk' heights by {^ivfit men ivaclied and kept, 
Were not attained by sudden tligiit; 

Ikit they, while their companions slept, 
\\'ei-e toiling- upwai'd in the night." 

.\t the age of eighteen he entered the Shaw University 
Raleigh. X. ('., this was in 1874, here he pi-oved to l)e 
doeile. and companionable v/ith his fellow students and 
enjoyed the hearty commendation of the faculty. 

Aftei- a masterful effort to lit himself for a broader 
field of usefulness than was the school i-oom by itself, he 
commenced the study of the law under the direction of 
first one and another of the white lawyers of his town,— I 
can't claim that he read under their instruction. Subse- 
<|iiently he entered the law office Hon. J. S. Leary, then of 
Fayettville, N. ('., (now Dean of the Law Department in 
the Shaw University.) During his course f)f reading Mr. 
(Juick readily found the reason of the Law much to sat- 
isfaction of his distinguished tutor. While no one of the 
white lawyers would dii-ectly refuse toexplainor untangle 
a knotty question of law yet all blandiehly and politely 
dfclinrd to im])art any regular Instruction to him even 
tor the money. He, however, in due coui-se of time was 
examined and admitted by the Supreme Court to practice 
law, as caunsel and attorney, in all thecourts of the State 
Since February oth. 1SS4 Mi-. Q. has enjoyed the inteilect- 
nal i-ontentions (;f the bar to some advantage, pecuniai-ily 
and mentally. 

In the year of ISTC. Ji.- stood on the burning deck of 
the Ke})ublican j.arty, liaid by his guns, even when victory 
appeared hopeless to the most sanguine. In that year he 
( aiivasscd Marlboio Co., S. C, for the success of the grand 
old party. 



Xk(4I{() Stars in all Ages of thk World. 



The Re])ul)licanH in convention assenibled nominated 
him for the Houjse of RepresentativeH from his native 
Count y to rejiresent their county in the General Assembly. 
This was in 18<S4, and he was duly elected by the people at 
the ])oll8 but was counted out by the methods of the pre- 
vailinii' election frauds committed against a fair election. 
Notwithstanding he holds no position of trust or of pub- 
He honor, he wields great influence in the Pee Dee Section 
of the State. Distinguished for sobriety, industry and the 
fullness of genial spirits, wearing consistency as an honor 
bright Jewell, which serves him withpoplular complacency 
in every turn of affairs. 

" The Advance" a weekly newspaper, emitted from 
his heart, head and hand found its way into the domicile 
of hundi-eds of his own as well as into that of the white 
people of his county. On March 1879 the author of these 
pages unfurled the sails of the Advance to the breezes em- 
blazoned all over with the command Advance, Morally. So- 
cially, and educationally and materially. 

Such an undertaking for a vouno- man without means 
oi- any substantial encouragement from those w^hose mere 
sympathy would mould and shape a manly sentiment and 
brace up the young freedman as he struggles up the hill 
hill with the burden of slavery's curse upon his back was 
simply herculean. The humble thrift and the steady per- 
severance of the Negro afford quite a moral contrast to the 
proud, haughty, senseless and dark forebodings uttered 
against the freedom of the black man . Mr. Quick possesses 
none of that spirit which would drag angels down, but 
rather works to stimulate and appreciate, in both races, 
virtue and intellectual attainments. 

Oh ! that the same could be written in living letters 
of eternal light upon the life record of every reader of this 
sketch ? Concluding that it w^as not best to live alone 



NK(JU(> STAKS in am. AUKti OK THE W(JHLD. 



Mr. (]nick rlioosed for himself an "hel}) meet" in the })ei-- 
son i)f Miss S. A. Morse, wlio, moved, when (juite younii', 
with hei- )>; (rents from Cheraw, S. C, to Rockingham, 
\. ('. On the 22nd of April, 1880, they married she 
liein;;- then only l.") years and 6 months old. Rev. John 
Hooj)er ottieiatini;-. Freddie D. and A. Evans (their sons) 
bless this union of hearts and hands with the promise of 
I'liture usefulness. 

Mr. Quick was a shininji,- star in the Colored Mens' 
State Convention, held March 29th, 80th and 31st, 1882, 
in the town of (joldsboro, N. C. , Hon. J. C. Dancy, of the 
Still- of Zion, was })resident, with Hon. A. S. Richardson, 
as seeretary. This was the gTeatest body of colored men 
that ever assembled in Nf)rth Carolina. The claims and 
suffei-ings, the rights and wrongs of the race wei-e very 
forceably set forth in its address to the people of the Stat*. 

In all great economic questions of the day he may 
always be found on the moral and e(jmtable side. The 
<;Teat Prohibition movement in North Carolina in 1881 
brought him jjrominently before the public again. In this 
sti-uggle he crossed swords with some of the leading Anti 
Prohibition oi'ators of the State. 

While he does not aspire to the rank of an orator yet 
.Mi. (^uick is a ])rofound thinker and good speaker. Ris- 
ing as the occasion demands to force and eloquence. 
He is a regular correspondent to many of the lead- 
ing news])apers in, as well as out of, the State, all of 
which bear the im))ressof his nmture thoughts on the now 
strained, yet hojjeful, futui-e relations of the dual races of 
.Amei-ica. Mr. Quick wields a very trenchent pen and gen- 
fially under a iioiit de pluiUH. (See appendix.) 

There is a something vastly agreeable in the first days 
« )f I ir( )fessiona 1 life. For this agreeableness, and his adapt- 
ability this Negro Star verv natnrallv loves the law and 



Nkc.KO STAHS in Al.l. AdKS OK THK WOULI*. 



is tlit'fcfoiv nil honor to the Bmv. The Bench n.iid Bai- nre 
uniformly courteous townrd him. In this feature of hon- 
<)i-;i])leeu(lefivoi- tlie coh»re(l hi wyer hihors niiderdisadvan- 
r;i,i;es and moves amonii- environments not encountered 
hvtliose of his race who are in other callhii>-s of public life. 
Vor instance : tlie minister of the o-ospel enjoys the kind 
words, ;l])|)rov^d and hospitahty of his flock with no one 
to cross swords with him in the pulpit. And there 
is the technical jihysician whose (li«j2;nosis is treasureil 
\i\) not only in the pei'ipatetic casket of memory but 
also in bottles. His nostrum is ])ut down as golden and 
his vain verbosity is often reckoned as wisdom's vehi- 
hicle— on which the jioor, hopeful, confident, yet languish- 
ing ])atient is to ride around to the ever refreshing springs 
of health, strength, longevity and new life, from a ])ill of 
some unknown and uncertain (nuintities is to issue virtue 
that will roll back the dial of time for a number of years, 
as in Hezekiah's case. 

But this is not so wdth the practicing lawyer. He is 
like the miii-htv oak amidst the fur v of a terrific storm, 
but still blooming, unbroken, undaunted, without the 
loss of a single limb or leaf— or he is comparable to an egg- 
shell at the mercy of a "tempest in a tea kettle"; ever and 
anon tumbling and being tumbled, by Court and Counsel, 
by law, facts and falsewdtnesses, into the dsedahan crucible 
tempered as it were by the raging Greek fire. Fighting 
f(»r every point he wins. Herein is a dangerous rival 
hanging upon and anahzing every woi-d uttered by him, 
and hence his battles and laurels, the colored lawyers as 
well as those of the whites, must win by force of intel- 
lect, logic and ecpiity. The nol)ler part of his nature is 
now and then mortified, insult is added to injury, when 
some brainless fo]) of the Bar or an unmanly blusterer, 
confused in the miasmatic maze of coloi--prejudice and 



]() Nkuiiii Staics in am. A(JEs <)V the World. 



ii^iior.incc jiiid who caiinot eompreheii<l the pristine 
lM-;iiit\- of hoiior.ihle coii.sistency of principle, even in 
r. lints of .lustice, and cannot discuss an issue of factor 
1,1 w wilhoiit hi^-^iiijj;- into its vituperous trend race scinti- 
l.iiioiis wlit'ii a colored man, women or child is a party. 
l"'oi- tin- purpose of his case sucli a le^al blather skite will 
refei- unkindly to the whole race the world over, though 
it licotilv one Xegro out of nine millions this species of 
ienl(»iis fnsile attein])ts to impeach. 

Ill the year of 1S84-86, the subject of this sketch was 
Secret iiiy of the Mxecutive ('ommittee of the Sixth Con- 
gressional District of North Carolina. This District runs 
IC;isl ;iii<l West from Wilmington to Charlotte, joining the 
cist of the Atlantic ocean to the Blue Ridge Mountain. 
The distinguished son of Robeson ct)unty. Dr. R. M. Nor- 
nieiit , was ])i-esideiit of this Committee. Mr. Quick is an 
aggressive debater and a christian gentleman, devoted 
always to his family, his friends, his country and his God 

"To virtue aiul lier friends a friend, 
Still may his voice the weak defend 
And never prostitute his tongue, 
By i)rotectin,£'' tlie villain in his wronjj'. 
Nor wrest the spirit of the hiws. 
To santify the villain's cause." 

There is this intrinsic dignity in the honorable career 
of .Mr. (iuick, void, as it is, of selhshness, or narrowness. 
ill tiie discharge of its duties, it serves, though it may be 
ill an Imiiible way— that Eternal Justice which is earlier 
than time and older than all creeds, and whose decrees 
will be executed when all human sytenis shall have spent 
t hfir force. 

There is nothing that more earnestly and vehemently 
inspires tin- honest, thoughtful man to shim the breakers 
ami race di;i wbacks or to imitate or re-act the no])ler 
traits thiit lia\e moved men to deeds of love and human- 



Negro Stars in alt, Ames of 'I'hi: \\'oi;i.i» 



itv than does the time record of oil's race, as chi-oiiicled 1)\- 
the historian. 

The correct historian is a refiwctor of the Nation's 
<;reatness or incapacity. He ])aints tlie (h-aiiui of its 
existence upon the canvas before the eyes of thousands of 
eag'er gazers at a glance, as it were. The history of the 
Negro has been for more than tAventy centuries garbled, 
distorted and misrepresented by tlie "Caste-marked Brah- 
men" of prejudice, only for the jmrpose of winning a pop- 
ular verdict from the jury of the world against him 
and to brace up the hiterest of the slave trade and race 
domination. Color-] )rejudice will foster, inculcate and 
precii)itate all the trouble this class of men desire and 
more, t^uch are swallowing whirl-wind. 

"He that soweth to tlie wind shall reap the whirl-wind. ' 

Mr. Quick has, in his laborious researched for the al- 
most lost golden grains of truth, unearthed "Negro Stars In 
All Ages of The World," that sparkles all over with examples 
of honor and ability in a race, somewhat, liitherto-groi)ing 
in a long, painfnl darkness. In this he heralds its forth- 
coming, all-c(ni(]uering and all-redeeming s])irit from the 
murderous slough of despondency. The characters here por- 
trayed are a beautiful grouj) of personified stars, rising 
gradually, like the morning star, floating through a sky. 
alternately fair and clouded, ])resen ting a cluster of shoot- 
ing orbs and planets, onward and upward, to the merid- 
ian of Godly grace and glory. 

W. P. MABSON. 



PKEFACK 



Joiiu'rhma wcil says, •'books, like tVinuls. should Ifc t\\\ aiii} 
we]] clioscn." so true is this remark that tlie autiior deemed it as 
a debt duethe presentand future raceof readei-s that uniel) labor. 
f>:reatcare and an overliowiuft- heart of race pi'ide and national 
honoi- should be de\-oted. nnsparin^'ly. to the considei-ation of 
this subject. 

It is the all-c(>nsnminj.j I)uri)ose of the 'ivriter to inspire the 
Ne^ro youth of this country with the hig,lier(iuaIifications of race 
pride, self respect, founded in a due sense of moi-al eng'ag'e- 
njents and a projier a])preciati(m of our civil manhood. In oi-- 
(U*r. therefore, to accomplish this end he .seizes, the l)rooni 
of researcli and with it endeavors to sweep from onr sky 
iuid oui- .u'olden liorrizon. that dark, miasmatic, sickly, heathenish 
mists, Avalancheon foji-falls. i-ayless clouds of criminal custom, 
.sellish i)()licy, color i»rejndice, clieck the opin-e.ssor, break the 
sinews of his entans'lins-man-catchinf^- liberty, destroyinft- web. 
that s])i-eads wide its baleful vail betAveen man and man. 
In this we shall hope to exhibit to every "seelier aftei- trutii." in 
full \\vy\\ an immense canoi)y of luiman stars, myi-iads of l)i-iii!it 
orbs, in clusterings and confignrations of exceeding beaut.\-. smil- 
ing in the x'ast blue ocean of space, chanting among thems(>lves 
and other nations and races, ujidei- adverse as well as favoi-able 
cir<-umstances. tlie harmony of truth and honoi-able service to 
(b)d and man in all the rounds of Father Tinie. The history of 
man foi-ms one-world-wide page and on it all will find that : 

*' Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The dark, unfatliomed dejtths of ocean bear, 
l'"ull many a tioAver born to blush unseen 

And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

To illust rate, let the reader choose a clear, calm night, sniii- 
niei' or winter, when the thundei- storms arc i-oiicd uj) in the hol- 
low of the hand of t lie .\.l mighty and the s\v<'ei)ing \\a > es of dai-k 



Xi:(;i; ) Stars in am. A(;f.s ok liii; Wi)i;i.;i. 1:5 

clouds liavt' hill iliemsrlves in the yawiiiim- iiioiitli of the roariiiii' 
ocean, let him take his jxisition and scan tlic cerulean vault — 
with tiie aid of a telescojjc or with tiie nailed eye, anil hehcdd 
apparently in his i-ea.'h, almost, hand's that silver crescent, ol 
lifilit. the moon. shinin.L?. calm, cleai", mild in a m(>ridian of lovel\- 
lilne, surrounded by an array of bright attendants, and here we 
discover a mira'.'le of God's power. Such is a true semblance of 
the Negroes history when honestly written in the light of truth 
and not in the fog of hate and falsehood — by friends and not en- 
emies of the human s[)ecies. "As onestar differeth from another" 
so does one Negro genius differ in capacity and brilliancy from 
another. The starry heaven does not display its glittering. 
glorious constellations in the glare of day. neither is real merit 
alwavs shown when life is smooth, but rather in the dark hour 
of adversity. This work is made up of bright, and pointed 
biographical illustrations — catechetically arranged. t)f men and 
women who have achieved distinguished success in the various 
directions in which they turned their respective energies. — In 
<'very case the succe.ss won and honors attained were the dii-ecT 
result of extraordinary industry. econ(jmy. sobriety and the 
cultivation of a high moral i^rinciple. 

If Xapolean, " the child of destiny," beheld a star continually 
before him, leading him over the bloody field and on to victoi-y. 
the subjects briefly noticed in these pages saAV also their stai- 
beckoning them u])war(l and onwai-d to victory and to gloi-y. 
compai'ed to whose moral and intellectual worth Napolean ami 
his armored deputies fades into an insignificant bauble. And 
some of us are following our luminous senible of hope yet. 

It is equally as impossible to name and delineate the charac- 
ter and .service of each prominent Negro Star in .\merica as for 
the Astronomer to enumerate all the heavenly bodies through 
one lens. For the want of s])ace. indeed, all cannot l^e relati-d ol 
these Negro Star lights that otherwise might be. 

I shall assay to prove by portraying individual chnractei 
and merit and racial durability that : 

■■ Fleecy locks and hhick comjilexion 
Cannot forfeit nature's claim, 
Skins may differ but affection 

Dwells in black and white the same." 

.\nd but for the desire toextend the rays (nir of Stars of Hope 
farthei- into the wilderness of minds and hearts I should not have 
consented to indict these investigations and conclusions and offei- 
them to the pulilic. 



!4 



NlciiHo SiAks IN Ai.i, A(;ks (»i i iik Wciji.n 



Hcinj;- aware of the ciiviioiiinciits of livclx ciitics, Jtiit feai'iu^ 

little from tliat source, the author teixlers tjiis little volmue to 

you as a menioi-ial of \ej;i-o ji'euius. trusting' that the readei- may 

<i"ir(l al)()ii t himself' I lie s\\'oi'(l of truth. mai*cliin.iifor\\'ai-<l. tijihtiiiM' 

and (^oiHiueriiiji for man Jiisbiother. and <iod. hisfather. following 

on after your star (these stai-s) whether it (oi- they) lead thi-ouyh 

crimson li^ht oi- Kj^yptian darkness, evei- holding!: nj) tlie hands 

of theri^ht. until you are called hence to rest ■M\here just men 

are mfide perfect." 

W H. QUICK. 
Rockinfjfham. X. C 



(^HAPTER 1. 



THE FATHEKHUOl) OF (iol). 



"In the bej^-iiiiiinji- (iod rvealed * * * * 
;////// ill his own image, in the iniMgeoiYroc/ created he him ; 
nude and female, create he them. And God lilessed them 
and said unto them; I>e iTiiitfnl, and multiply, and re- 
plenish the earth, and su1»due it: and have d(miini(m over 
the fiish of the sea. and over the fowl of the aii-, and over 
every livin;g- thing that moveth uitonthe earth. And God 
said, Behold, 1 have given yon every herb bearing seed, 
which is upon tlie face of the earth, and every tree, in the 
which is the fruit of a tree, yielding seed ; to yon it shall 
be for meat. And to e\ery beast of the earth, and to every 
fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the 
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb 
for meat: audit was so." 

"God hath nmde of one blood all nations of men for 
to dwell on all the face of the earth." 

" And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the 
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: 
and he became a living soul." 

How' can poor silly man, acknowledging the common 
Ffi therhood of God, fail to honor the divine autlu)rship and 
love his brother l)ecause his brother is darker? ( 'laim a hea v- 
en-ap})ointed right to domineer, to Have and to Hold all 
rights, ])rivileges and appurtenances belonging to public con 



1<) XiKJKo Stars in all A(;ks ov thk Would. 



titlciicp, ])i-ivate ))leasiii-es and soci.il lia})])iiiess, retineiiieiit 
and an cxclnsive clij-istian worslii]) and t'ellowshi]) — when 
lit' can look out into t'lnmi'Dsit y itself and behold the 
inatclilcss how of many coloi-s, call it a pfovidence, a 
pi'oniisc and a hlessin<i' — Then listen how this crawl- 
iii^- woini. called man, lands the Deitys jiraise upon 
olisci-\iu2: the i;-o/;i;-'0 7/.s' rings of Satui'ii — hear him sin<i' 
His infinite skill and love when He dots oni- fields and 
gardens wit h jiinks, jasmines, ji-eraninms, A'iolets. lillies 
aud all tli(^ vai-i<>-ated, charming featni-es of the vegetable 
kingdom — tlie countless shades, lines and tints of our 
fiMiits— the ])ieb()ld diversity of the beasts of the forest — 
the party-colors of the winged family that makes the very 
ethereal space in itself one measni-eless am])hitheatrical 
oi-chesti-a of song — atnning their tongues to rejjeat after 
Solomon :" ])raise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanc- 
tuary: prruse Him in the hrmameiit of his ])ower: ])i-aise 
Him foi- his mighty acts: praise him according to his ex- 
cellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trum- 
pet : ])raise Him with the ])salterv and har]>. Praise Him 
with the timbrel and dance: ])i-aise Him with stringed in- 
struments and organs "'• * * * * j^^^ 
evei'vthing that hath breath ])raise the Lord. * *" 

Here are the green, bi-own, black, white, yellow, 
speckled and striped colors in the finny tribe under the 
n'riter — the />yrir-A: storm cloud laughing at the lightning, 
marshal around and hug the wititc ca])s of bellowing 
thunder— the hazy atmosphere gives place to the calm blue 
canopy. In these divine attributes can't we see the wis- 
dom and glory of God in giving the world and evei'vthing 
therein a diversihed existence. "Time cann(>t wither it 
nor custom stale its infinite vai-iety." His ])o^ver and 
mercy are too great for one eternal sameness or stagnant 
monotony, in things animate or inaninmte. 



Negro Staks in ma. A(jp:s i»f thk Woki.d. 17 



This shows God's oreatest ])()Aver while diversity is 
man's oireatest lesson. Why shonld we consider a black 
skin a cnrse— or look on it with indifference and claim a nat- 
ural supei-ioritv because we are white or educated or have 
black or blue eyes— long or short hair? as if there 
was virtue in external attributes? "There is neither Greek 
or Jew, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or freed for ve all are 
one." Can any christian feel and know of the reality of the 
relioion of the Lord Jesus Christ or can any infidel pos- 
sessing the slightest rudiments of knowledge— historical 
truths, or abstract science, and 

" Find his fellow j?uilt.v of a .skin 
Not colored like his OAvn, and having- poAver 
Doom and devote him as a laAvful prey?" 

Will sensible, honest men mount the wings of skin ar- 
istocracy and sail through realms of hate to distant, dan- 
gerous heights, and perch on a rotten bough, beyond the 
limits of human c<unprehension and there blurt at the in- 
comparable symmetry of the All Wise as manifested in the 
formation of Worlds and elements ? Fixed in utter aston- 
ishment, we gaze upon such a doleful creature as he ap- 
pears to be just blasted by a hot stroke from heaven, yet 
alive : in dreadful looks— a monument of God's wrath and 
offended mercy ! 

"The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor. 
He hath said in nis heart, God hath forgotten ; He hideth 
his face ; He will never see it. Thou hast seen it ; for thou 
beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand. 
The poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the 
helper of the fatherless. Lord, thou hast heard the desire 
of the humble. Thou wilt cause thine eai- to hear ; thou 
wilt prepare the hea rt . To judge the fatherless and the op- 
pressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress." 
—10th chapter ofPsahus. 



'>^ Xe(Jki) .Stars in ali. Agks of thk World. 

God ^ave to Africa'^ sons 

A brow of sable dyo : 
And spread the counti-y of tlieir birth 

Beneatli a bnrninj^' sky. 
With a chcrk of olive Me made 

The little Hindi^o child : 
And darkly stained the forest tribes. 

That roam our Westei-n wild. 

To me He ;i,ave a form 

Of fairer, whiter clay ; 
But am I, therefore, in his sight. 

Respected more than they ? 

Xo ; — "tis the hue oi' deeds and fhoii<chts 

He traces in his book ; 
'Tis the complexion of the heart 

On which He deigns to look. 

Not by the tinted cheek, 

That fades away so fast, 

But by the color of the souh 
We shall be judged at last. 



THE BROTHEKHOOI) OF MAN. 

" We hold these truths to be seh-evideiit, that all lueii 
;iie created equal ; that they are endowed by their (.'rea- 
tor with certain unalienable rights; that among these are 
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure 
these i-ights, governments are instituted among men, de- 
riving their just powers from the consent of the governed. 
That whenever any form of government becomes destruc- 
tive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it. had to institute new govei-nment, laying its 
foundations on such principles and organizing its powers 
in such foi-m, as to them shall seem most likelv to effect 
their safety and happiness." 

I ted u ration of Independence of Tlic Anierieam Colonies 
Against the power of Great Britain In convention Assembled at 
I'liiladclfdiia. July 4th, ITTd. 

'■ .\s the member of an em])ire. as a philanthi'0])ist by 



Neguo Stars in all Ages of thk Wokld. 19 



charaeter, and, if J may l)e allowed the express^ion, as a 
citizen of the great republic of hnnianitv at large. 1 can 
not help turning- my attention s(3nietimes to thit^ subject. 
how man hid may be connected, like one orcnt fainilv. in 
fraternal ties. 1 indulge a fond, perhaps an enthusiastic 
idea, that as the world is evidently much less barbarous 
than it has been, its melioration must still be j)i-ogressive: 
that nations are becoming more harmonized in their pol- 
icy ; that the subjects of ambition and causes for hostility 
are daily diminishing ; and, in fine, that the j)eriod is not 
very remote when the benefits of a liberal and free com- 
merce will pretty generally succeed to the devastations 
and horrors of war." George Washington. 

Frnni tvhat coiiunon .stock sprang all mankind ? 

From Adam and Eve, dwellers and tenants in the gar- 
den of F]den. of whom was required 

* * * •' No other scrA'ice than to keep 
Thi.s one. this easy eharg-e, of all the trees 

In paradise that bear delicious fruit 

So various, not to ta.ste that only tree 

Of knowledge, planted by the river of life ;" 

■• How beauty is excelled by manly grace. 
And wisdom, which alone is truly fair. 
.So spake our general mother arid with eyes 
Of conjugal attraction unreproved. 
And meek surrender, half-embracing leaned 
On our first-father ; half her swelling breast 
Naked met his under the flowing gold 
Of her loose tresses hid : he in delight 
Both of her beauty and submissive charms, 
Smiled with superior love, as Jupiter 
On Juno smiles, when he Impregns the clouds 
That shed May flowers : and pressed her matron lip 
^Vith kisses pure. ******* 

* What thou seest. 

What there thou seest, fair creature is thy self ; 
With thee it comes and goes ; but follow me, 



20 Ni;(;k'() Staus ix all Acjks of thk Wouiap. 

And I will brin>? thee where no shadow stays 
Thy coming, and thy soft embraces, he 
Whose iniaKt* thou art ; him thou shalt enjoy 
In.sei)arably thine, to liim shalt bear 
Multitudes like thyself, and thence be called 
Mother of the human race. * » » ♦ 

— Paradise Lost, Book IV. 



CHAPTP]R II. 



WHAT WAS THE COLOR OF ADAM AND EVE : 



Adam was red or earthy, while mother Eve way white 
Rev. J. F. Dyson, B. D., in his recent desertation on the 
"Unity of the Hunmn Race And The Origin of Color" has 
this to say on this subject: "The word which w^e translate 
Eve is Chavvah in Hebrew and means simply life, and no 
one who is familiar with Holy-writ wMll deny that life and 
immortalitvaresvmbolized bv Tr/^/fe, from the Pentatench 
of Moses to the Apocalypse of John, and in human ex- 
l)erience from Nimrod until now. Therefore, Eve's roJor 
indicated that she was the "mother of all living," or the 
source of all living, as much as her name. In order for 
the woman to engage the attention of the man she must 
have been attractive. What color is more attractive than 
white? For her to claim her protection she must have 
a delicate appearance. What color is more delicate 
than white? 

To draw upon his affection she must have been fair, 
or in other words white; and I do not think it more 
poetic than truthful for me to say that Eve's color also 
denoted virtue, the brightest gem in the diadem of her 
I)riceless womanhood, and the most glorious and the 
most valuable legacy left her to her posterity." 

When we remember that father Adam was of the 
color of the substance out of which he w^as created— ^e J, 



Xi:(;Ku Stars in ai,l At;Ks of Tfii: Woijm*. 



how cjiii we esca])e the lopcal eonchision that Mother 
Cha\"vah wns of the color of the substance out of whic-li 
she was made — m Wliitc rih. 

nV/o ivd.s Coin ? 

He was the oklest son of Adam and Eve. He dwt^lled 
ill tlie land of Nod. a short iournev East of Eden. He a 
tiller of the ground, (a farmer.) Tain founded a city in 
Nod and named it foi- his oldest son. to- with : P^noch. 
Over the inhabitants of this place Cain was Prince and 
Ruler. This is the first city mentioned in the Bible— the 
most venerable monument of antiquity. It was for his 
condition and circumstance as well as for the murder of 
his brother Al)el that brought him into distinguished 
prominence. 

What ivas the color of Cain ? 

It is supposed by some writers on ethonological ques- 
tions that he was swarthy, dark or brown, indicating a 
sanguinary cross between his red father and white mother. 
We do not entertain even a vage idea that Cain of Nod 
was black no more than we do that he was the progeni- 
tor of the Negro, but insert this digression by A^-ay of 
parenthesis in answer to some wicked aspersions cast 
upon the Negro in order to degrade him by associating 
the two. 

Is there any scriptural authority. ])recedent or abstract reasoning for 
associatinr/ the mark of Cain with the color of any race of people or 
for imputing color as a signal of criminal instincts or divine 
displeasure 7 

There is not. Neither is the Mark of Cain, nor (,'urse 
of Canaan the cause of the Negroes swarthy hue, nor is it 
the nucleus of the texture of his hair, any more than Mir- 
iam's fearful doom was the cause of the color of the white 
race. (She was smitten with a deadly malady— her flesh 



Nk(;K(i Stars in all AtiEs of thk \Vt;iiLi). 123 

Imlt" consumed 1),v liviiiu tire, her Itoues beiifin to rot, and 
she (h-iveu out of Israel's eanip and burnt inethj^y— as (>ne 
dead. She angered God by the perpetration of one of the 
greatest of sins— hatred on ao<-()untof eohir — jealousy and 
prejudice.) This malediction was imposed because she 
atteni])ted to im])ugn the moral excellence of Zipporah. 
hci- brother Moses' wife, on account of her color, she 
(Zip{)orah) bein<i' an I^thiopian. 

I'Vhat can ymi scij/ of Cain's posterity indicating skill, contentment and 
plenty 7 

Their tented fields— sporting; herds and waving barley 
— their proverbial vintage |)lains all indicate beauty of 
natural scenery, and social happiness. There, too, in the 
dim vista of the past can be seen the hardv sons and 
(hiughters of Lamech. of Adah and Zillah, grouped under 
those wide spreading vines and willows in the balmy 
breezes of autumn on the banks of the famous Nile, 
rhanting rapturous strains of love, victories and religion 
upon their well attuned harp and organ. The master 
workmanship of Tubal in those primeval founderies and 
mines and shops, fashioning iron, brass and gold, show 
superior knt)wledge of metallurgy, mineralogy, sciences 
and arts, and are, indeed, marks and curses of which their 
linea<re need not be ashamed. 



CHAPTER III. 



FROM MT. ARMENIA TO THE VALLEY OF SHLXAR. 



Who wan Noah 7 

A desceiKlant of Adam in the tenth generation, bom 
1B56, B. C. 

Who were Shem, Ham and Japeth ? • 

8ons of Noah, born in the order named. 

What sects or tribes make up the semetic race ? 

The Persians, Asyrians and Lydians, and the Joktons, 
the fourth in descent from Shem and perhaps the Indians 
of America. 

Who were the Hamites ? 

The Ethiopians, Egyptians, Phihstines, Babylonians. 
Colchians, Lybians, Oinaanites, i^idonians and the Phe- 
nicians. 

Who were the chileren of Japheth 9 

The (.'imbri, (rauls, Germans, Scythians, Tartars, 
Medes, lonians, Iberians, Muscovites and the Thraciaiis. 

At what place did the dispersion commence ? 

Somewhere North (;f Persia, in the hmd of Khiva, was 
probably the second cradle of the human race. This land 
is now the central meeting; point of mighty Empires, here, 
Russia from the North, England, through India, from the 



N'KOUi) STAUS 1\ Al.i- A(nOS (>!•• THK \V()i;I.I>. 



South ami the vast Kui-opean powers tVoni tlu' ^^ ot 
foine too-ethfi'. This was the {)oint oi ih'partnre whoinc 
thtMiations slaj-ted tor their future homes, where t-arh 
w(>rf, in time to ^^ehievp wonders and ast(Hiish tlie wcM-ld. 
^Vhcn did di.ffuitfion.i between these families take place 7 

From the Armenian Mountains, where Noah landed 
tVom the Ark, the streams of ])0])uhition poured forth to 
Asia Minoi', Southwest to Eoypt and Afi-iea. South to 
Arabiti, Southeastto Persia and India, and P^ast to China. 
T'heii the peo])le began to diffei-. in color and lang-uatie. 
from each othei-: thev jjraduallv ehanjied their habits of 
life and worship aecordino- to their surioundings. 
Was thin done suddenly ? 

So. It took ages for the nations to reach the mori- 
distant lands : ages for them to become settled in theii- 
new homes ; ages for tliem to peo])]e these lands densely. 

After thejioat and final rest of the Ark upon Mt . Ararat what bcrniii>' 
of this isolated family of rari-colored children ? 

Shem drifted into and settled in the East and South 
x\sia — Ham peopled Syi-ia, Arabia and Africa— while 
Jaj)heth replenished the North and West Asia and Eujo]»e. 

Is the climate of the same temperature in ewh of these countries ? 

No. In Asia, genei-allv, it is wai-m. but variable— in 
Europe it is milder and more unifoi'm, while in Africa it is 
warmer and sultry, yet healthf\d as any other part of the 
continent. 

Does the climate exercise any infnence over the color uf the skin of hu- 
man family in any degree whatsoever ? 

Yes. It modifies the color of man ; (jualifies the hal)its 
of beasts, as well as operating very visably u])on the na- 
ture, growth and properties of vegetation in its regions. 
What is the tendency of thi>i color-progression in different climates ? 

Under the imj)ulse of incompatable tern ])ei'a tares the 



25 .NicciKo Staks i.v ai.i, A(i[;s or thk W(jki.I). 

color iiran uiuleriioeH a chmi^e. becomes intensified. ;jc- 
cordinii' tf) food and liabits of life and clinnite. 

TliuH we see the families of tlie ark become more and 
moi-e dis})ersed, ^rowino- and solidifvinu' nntil they have 
reached and formed into distinct, specific complexions. 

Thiiely situated vShem adorns a cuticle of a sallow, 
warn hue — in Afi-ica Ham becomes darker while Japheth. 
settleflin Europe, is regaled in a paler cutaneous wrap])in<:-. 

"1 assume as a matter of course," says. Mr. Dyson, 
"that the white comj^lexiondid not exist after Eve's death 
until centuries after the confusion of tonii-ues at Babel, 
and the dispersion of the three grand divisions of mankind 
thence upon all the face of the earth; as the Hebrew has 
it, nor was the very black complexion known until the 
people distinguished thereby had subordinated themselves 
to the circumstances which produced it." 

This coloring matter was instilled into the blood of 
the human race while in the garden of Eden. And going- 
out from here encountering heat and cold, "the influences 
of the chemical solar rays, * * the difference of geolog- 
ical formations, magnetism and the agencies of electricity, 
atmospheric peculiarities, miasmatic exhalations from 
vegitable and mineral matter, difference of soil, ])r(^ximit\- 
to the ocean, variety of food, hal^its of life and exposure," 
these children acquired this beautiful human bou(]uet of 
varigated colors. 

It is a pleasure to the author of these pages to conclude 
this chapter with an extract from a recent poem written by 
the Rev. Geo. C. Rciwe, colored, of Charleston, S. C, en- 
titled, "Historic Truth," (See Rev. Haynes "Negro in 
Sacred History &c,") the last lines of which T adopt and 
offer the readers of this Catechism as a living monument, 
worthy, alike, of both the young, gifted poet and his 
pristine subject : 



Nkguo Staks in ali. A(}es of the WoKi.n, 27 

"* * * * And early in thexe parts. 
Flourished the noblest sciences and arts; 
Vast pyramids, constructed with wondrous skill. 
Which stand to-day a questioninfjc wonder still ! 
What men are these, who l)uilt this mighty pile. 
With labyrinths most marvellous in style? 
^^'hat men are these who fully understand 
Oeometry and mathematics grand? 
Who throng:!! the summit ojtening afar, 
Can ev"n at midday spy the Polar- star? 
What men are these? most superb, it is plain, 
Men of rich culture, intellect and brain. 

These are the men to whom we look with pride — 
Our ancestry ; in .sciences the guide 
To all the world — no need i.s there of shame. 
No reason why we should despise owr name 
Then let us all jscan well the historic page. 
Tracing' tlie line direct from age to age; 
Thus gaining light, encouragement and zeal. 
That in life's work, our hearts may always feel 
A conscious power, a manhood pure a.ud free, 
Which is in truth the highe>!t liberty ! 



I's Nkuiui Stakh r.v am. A(jks ot tue Wdukd. 



i HAPTER IV 



ANClKN'i' KVK.NTS. iJKAI'TY. VALOR AM> riJCXIRKSS. 



What can you sen/ of thf SfaiesmaK.s/iip ".ad niiUtorti geriins of 
Babyhmia 1 

Sacred and seciilai- historians, writiiuz,- on the subjeel, 
W\\ us tiial Hahyloaia was ''tlie oioi-y of kiiii>-doins'"— 
Kin^•don) of Kinjidonis — ''and the })eaiity of Chaldeau 
Hxcelleney "* — "a ix'Ojile terrible from tlieiT liepnnin<i;."' 
''The i^-olden city.' ''The <'a|)ital of the world." 

This city was a verirable redoubt — a fortification in vvd- 
nei-able to the a})])roach of an enemy. She was the caji- 
ilol of thf^ most powerful ninni''ij)al and social ii.-overn- 
nicnt anion^i- the then Hvin^- nations and empires whose deci- 
mated dust no w lonj.i- since the winds haA'e blown as mist, in 
like maimei- as Fathei- Time lias nearly obliterated all that 
onr fathers did to challen^-e praise, throuji-h the lonji; line 
of by-<j:,-one days. 

Who h ranked a.s iht Monarch of the Old World ? 

Ninirod. Uev. Hayiie. in liis recent work on "The 
Xe^To in Sacred History oi- Ham and his iinmediate de- 
scendants." tells ns that "'cities rose at his con)niand 
behind him, and aronnd him a o-jorions cmjnre stretched. 
Nations tied befoi-e him as did the wild l)easts of the 
foi'ests. — P.-i^v US. 
Defirn'fie the vniqve benvty lyixl viirivolen spU-ndo) of Jiahyhm 

Babylon is the one citv known to historv which craihl 



Nirnito Staks in a;,i. Agks o!' tiik VS'oui.i). 21) 



h;iV(> sei-vvd hs a Tiuxlel for ."^t . .lohn's (leseriptioii of tlu* 
Xh\v Jeriisi^leiu. — Ihicl JOO. 

Tills i-eiebrated rity \A'as sitiiattMl on t hi' Euphratt'M. 
Some speak of Seniiramis amj othei-s of Xebnehadnezar as 
beino- the t'oiindei- of this citv. ft laid in a vast and fei-- 
tile })l<\in watered hx the famous water rourse above men- 
tioned. Its walls was sixty {('A)) miles in circumfei-enc<' 
jind three (*^()()) hundred fc^t hiiih anil seventy fivp (?.")) 
feet wide. In each of the four sides were 25 brazen gates 
from wliieh road-s crossed to the o])pt)si1f' p,-ates. Hei-e 
were the niysteiious templets, o-ai-dens and palaces of our 
fathers. Here you will ><ee what our parents tlid to ch;d- 
leng'e praise. thrt)Uii'h the lono line of other days. Hence 
instrm-tioos di-aw, for here faith was linked with love and 
Libei'ty with Law." This city was one threat ])alace. 
Her queen, Amytis, boasted of a ''hant;in^ j>ar<leii" 4(K) 
feet high, sust<^ined by arches upon ci'rches, terraces foi- 
trees <in<l flowers, watere<l bv means of machinery, from 
the river. Now, Babylon had reached her gloi-y and was 
at the summit of her greatness and splendor. This was 
about 580 B. (\, ami was renowned for learning. Her lo- 
cation gave her to a great extent the control of the trathc 
by navigation and caravan transportation, betw^een all 
the pi-ogressive countries then in existence. Under the' 
reign of NaboniduK it w^as besieged and taken by Cyrus. 
This was affected by the consumation an oppf)rtune mid- 
night stratagem — a genuine military toap d'etat. Yes, 
by means of an artificial inundation of that stupendous 
wall that had withstood the ravages of many centuries. 
Babylon had forgot God — under the administrations of a 
long succession of Kings Babylon continued to decline. 
She i-ev(^lted from time to time against the rule of her late 
conquerers but to no avail. It w^asNebuchadnezar's ques- 
tion that rang in the ears and fed the covetous ambitifai 



:50 XK(;ii() Stahs in all Aijes of the Would. 



ni the Persiciu wnriior. When he (Nebuehadiiezar) ex- 
rhnmed as follows : "'Is not this great Babylon, that I 
have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of 
my power and for the honor of my nmjesty." The most 
ancient name of this country was Shinar, it beingfounded 
in the vear 1998 B. C. Afterwards it was known as 
Babel, then Babylon and next by the name of Chaldea, 
successively— according to the whim of the prevailing 
rulers, assuming different names and forms of govern- 
ment at different ages. Babylon fell 538 years before 
Christ. 

Describe the public career of Nebuehadiiezar ? 

"That monarch, a brilliant general, an able states- 
man, a nmgnificent patron of the arts and sciences, was 
a profoundly religious man. He united in himself the 
functions of General, King and Pope. His ambition 
equaled his ability. Inheriting a kingdom scarcely larger 
than Portugal, he extended its limits over most of the 
then known world * * * He strove to retain in 
cords of silk the nations which Nineveh had bound in 
fetters of iron. His supreme ambition was to make Bab- 
ylon what Napoleon labored to render Paris, the incom- 
parable metropolis of the world.''— Ibid. 104. 

In one of his expeditions against Jerusalem Nebuch- 
adnezar captured 42,362 Jew^s, made them prisoners of 
war and domestics— confiscated hundreds and thousands 
of gold and silver, money and wares— almost endless 
trains of ammunition— horses, cattle and corn and wines. 
IVhat was the most remarkable building in Babylon! 

It was the temple of Bel, which was pyramidal in 
shape, having eight stages or circular seats around the 
tall, wide central, elevating column. The lowest stage 
was 200 yards square, that is to say, it was 28,800 feet 



Nkgko Staijs i.\ am- A(JKs ok tuk Wokli*. :!l 



square. On the sniiimit a ^'olden statue of Bel 40 feet 
hiii'h, stood in a shriue. There were also two othei- ,u(»i- 
(leu statues and a ooldeu table iu this slu-iue. At tin- 
bottom of this pATamidal-teiuple stood a chapel wit ii a 
table and two iuiaaes of ^old within it. 



PRE-EMINENCE AND SKILL OF THE EARLY AFRICAN. 
What about the civilization of Northern Africa 7 

I u those i-euiote ages, when the Mesopotamiau jilaiu 
is represented iu scripture history as little more than a 
wide and open common, the Northern shores of Africa 
sustained a })Owerful and splendid civilization. 
What about Thebes ? 

When Greece was under the tumultuary sway of a 
number of petty chieftains. Homer, in song and history 
celebrates the hundred gates of the city of Thel)es and hei- 
contributary resources, her mighty hosts which iu war- 
like array issued fi'om them to battle, 572 B. (\ 

What of the learniiuj and arts of the inhabitants in the vaUey if the 
Nile ? 

Before the faintest dawn of science had illumed tlie re- 
gions of Europe the valley of the Nile was the abode of 
learning and distinguished for its incomj)ara,ble works in 
sculpture, painting and architecture. 

What of Egypt and Carthage 1 

While Egyi)t was thus pre-eminent in knowledge and 
art Carthage equally excelled in commerce and in the 
wealth produced by it, it rose to a degree of power that 
enabled her to hold long suspended between herself and 
Rome the scales of universal empire. 

What were the varying foi-tvnes of Caiihage and Kgypt ? 

She sank amid a blaze of glory in her grand s^truggle 



NK<a«l KlAliS I.V AIJ, A(il>i Of THE \\l)KIAt. 



with I!()ni(% towiird wliirli Ifiirm^i' kiufi'donis of .ill lat+T- 
time have looUefl with cnvv. And the land of the Pha- 
raohs. whoHe alteriiiite splendor and slavery ha<l been the 
admiration an() astonishment of the aues. canje also at 
length under the hand cxf the Ceasars. 

iMd their inatitittujthf nnrcicc Ike tide of icar I 

Yen. The fosterin{>- re}>iiblic soon rekindled the fire 
which the tide of war iuid extinti-uished. and Northern 
Africa was still opulent and enlightened, "boasting its 
sages. it-H saints, its heads and fathers of the clinrch. and 
exhibiting Alexandi-ia and Carthage on a footing with the 
greatest cities which owned the emperial sway." 

/)/// fhi.<! power and <jlory penetrate far into (he cuntinent 7 

So. There was only fi naiTow strip of light fringing 
the sea and river, back of this there was the mystei-ions 
and unknt)wn. 

A civilization and social compact thus founded was 
not easily destroved bv the Roman horde — Wftrandfiames 
and tyranical })ersecntion. 

There was Mauritania , though at one time seemed 
doomed, by the invasion of Ceasai", to be forever the in- 
heiitance of a barbarous nomadic race, because a (bstin- 
guished school of leai'ning. Paths weiv opened through 
wilds which had detied, liitherto, all human effori, and a 
trade in gohl was formed with countj-ies which had been 
ujiknown. 

There is (jhana boasting unrivaled si>ien<Ioj'. There is 
Kuughci famous foi- its industries and arts, and celebrated 
;dike for its ingenuiti(^, manufactures and foi- its witty 
iiud polite women. 
What about the Alexandrian School and Library 7 

This was an Academy literature and learning of all 



Negro «tars in all Ages of the Word). :i;5 

kinds, instituted at Alexandria by Ptolemv, son of Logus, 
and kept up and supported bis successors — The celebrated 
Alexandrian Library was founded for the use of the Alex- 
andrian Academy; and by continuffl additions by suc- 
cessive instructors and managers, it became at last the 
finest library in the world, containing no less than 700,- 
000 volumes. The method followed in collecting books 
for the library was, to seize all those which were brought 
into Egypt by Greeks or other foiieignei"s. The books were 
translated in the museum, by persons appointed for that 
purpose, the copies were given to the proprietors and the 
originals laid up in the library. This was about 332 B .C. 



UENEEALOGY- 

What nations sprang frum the loitis ofSJiem ? 

The Persians, Assyrians and the Lydians, the Jakton, 
4th in descent from Shem. The extreme East and per- 
haps America were peopled by him. 

What can you say of the intellectuaJ, growth and inJivLence. of the Ham- 
itic race ? , 

The children of Ham took the lead in cultui-e, social 
i-elinement and national progress, which made Africa the 
scientific light ot the world and from whom learning and 
polity were imported to and copied by the sons of J^hem 
and Japheth. 

What were fh-tlr natural resources atui marks of grastdair'? 

'The Gold of Ethiopi.^ axd Her Mekchaxdise" — 
**The Qi ee-VS of Sheba"— The '•TIindaces" and Kengs of 
w^hose Greatness the prophets spt^ke — 'The Blameless 
Ethiops'' of whom Homer sang and with whom the ho 
liest of the Gods did mingle. 



M4 



Ne(;ko Staus in xul Xoks of tiii: Woki.u. 



We have seen the prowess of Africa, as we moved 
along down the line of time, shining forth iu all her sym- 
metrical beanty from the planting of Xoi) down to the 
crowninii' act of hnmanitv of Sniox, a Svrenian. and father 
of Alexander and Riifns. 




Neuro Stars in alt> A(}Ks of tiik W'oui.d. ->•> 



<^HAPTK1I V. 



<;()VRKXMENTS AND RULERiS — THE I'TNIC WARS. 



From what period may ive date the beginninf/ of proijress lu cictlizd- 
fion ? * 

From the founding of the city of Enoch by Cain, where 
Tubal, who was a refiner, wrought brass and iron with 
skill 
WIlo were the Phenicians ? 

They were a sect of the black race who between the 
years 2000 and 750 B. C, were at the pinnacle of power 
and w^re the instructors and civilizers of the whole 
Western World. 

Describe the detightjul climate and sceneries in Syria, and Palestine 
and their production? ^ 

This can be the better answered in the poetic deduc- 
tion of Thomas Moore, which 1 here la.y before the reader. 

SVUIA. 

Now, upon Syria's land of roses 
Softly the li^ht of eve reposes, 
And, like a glory, the broad sun 
Hangs over sainted Lebanon ; 
' Whose head in wintry gi-andeur towers, 

And whitens with eternal sleet, 
While summer, in a vale of flowers, 
Is sleeping rosy at his feet. 

To one, who looked from upper air 
O'er all the enchanted regions there. 
How beauteous must liavo been the glow. 



36 Negro Staxw l\ am. Ages of the World. % 

The life, the sparkling: from below ! 

Fair gardens, shining sti-eams, with ranks 

Of golden melons on their banks. 

More golden where tfee sun light falls ; — 

Gay lizards, glittering on the walls 

Of ruined shrines, bnsy and bright 

As they were all alive with light; — 

And, yet more splendid, numerous flocks 

Of pigeons, settling on the rocks. 

With their rich restless wings, that gleam 

Variously in the crimson beam 

Of the XV arm west, — as if inlaid 

With bxflliantfe from the mine, or made 

Of tearless rainbows, such as spa|i 

The unclouded skies of Peristan ! 

And then, the mingling sounds that come. 

Of sliepbeixt's ancient reed, with hum 

Of the wild bees of Palestine, 

Banquettlng through the flowery vales'; 

And, Jordan, those sweet banks of thine. 

And woods, so full of nightingales 1 

Who was Jethro 7 

He was a Midian Priest and fatIier-in-Ia\A' of Moses. 
Hence Moses and Jethro were the leading christian spirits 
of their dav and time, thev raised, cultivate<l and (hi-ected 
the two greatest and most reno wned families of the wovkl. 

Who was Nimrad ? 

He vras the son of Cush "and he began to be a aiigjity 
one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter befoit* the 
Lord : wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod, the mighty 
hunter before the Lord/' He founded the provinces of 
Babel, Erech, Acead and Calneh, in the land of »^hinai' — 
These were formed into one gi-eat Empire. Here was 
maintained the fii'st or((Hnized government of the world. 

Who was the Queen of Sheba ? 

She was the much honored Ethiopian queen of Sheba 
who visited King Solomon in all his glory and was by him 



Negro Stars in xuh Ages of the World. 37 

royally entertained. She was among the most celebrated 
women of bible histdry. 

The tradition of this visit of the Queen of Sheba to 
Solomon has maintained itself among the Arajjs, who 
t-all her Balkis, and affirm that she became the wife of 
Solomon. 

WJio was Zipporah 7 

She was the daughter of Jethro. She, like the heav- 
enly minded Kachel, tended the flocks and as pious Re- 
becca bore her pitcher. She was the faithful wife of Moses, 
tlae worlds first historian and prophet. He was learned 
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in 
words and in deeds. The learning and wisdom of the 
Egyptians, especially of their priest, was then the pro- 
foundest in the world. Zipporah, "had a hand" in all the 
splendid, yet pious, divinely pious achievements of Moses, 

Who was Berosus ? 

He was a Chaldean priest who lived in the time of Al- 
exander, the great. He was a very learned man and 
translated the history of Babylonia iititt the Grt^ek lan- 
guage. His history commences with the creation and is 
carried (^own to his own tiTue. He drew from the records 
of Babylonia, from the tradition of the people and also 
from the inscriptions on monuments. It is wonderfully 
in agreement with the bible record. At first his state- 
ments were questioned and disputed, but the researches of 
modern scholars in many respects confirm their complete 
accuracy. He wrote many years before ('hrist. 

Who was St. AuguatiHe ? 

He was Bishop of Hippo and one of the great doctors 
of the christian church. His writings are read with rev- 
erence at the present day by members of tlie Greek, Roman 



3S ^EGRo Staks in all Auks (ii- Tin; ^^■o!;LD. 

and prote.staiit communion.s. He an African, and ^Yas 
converted iToni heatlienism by St. Ambrose at Milan. On 
his return he was chosen Bishop of Hipjio, in Africa and 
died at the ag-e of sevenry-seven, -130 A. D. 

Who was St. Catherine ! 

She was an African — was b;jru at Alexandria, and 
early in life displayed a passion for ])olite literature. On 
her conversion sae spared no pains in publishing the 
truths of Christianity, and openly rebuked the Pagans for 
their idolatry. Naturallv this gave offense and she was 
condemned to suffer death by being torn to pieces by 
wheels having hooked spikes. Tradition has it that her 
would-be torturers were disturbed b^^ direct interposition 
from heaven, and, being foiled in this they were content 
to behead her outside of the city. 

Who was Hannibal ? 

Hannibal was a common name in Carthage. He was 
the son of Harailcar Barca and his name means the gift of 
Baol. He was the most renowned of that celebrated fara 
ilv of warriors and rulers and statesmen, of whom there 
were 14 or 15 in all. He was the gri^at invincible Cartha- 
genian general, who commanded the brave Numidians, the 
Cisalpine Gauls, the Cicillians, the Germans and all the 
African Cavalries. These were formerly held in subjection 
by the Roman power, but uy the coup cVetat, superior 
generalship and humane statesmanship of Hannibal 
these minor governments were relieved and the able bod- 
ied men enrolled in his army. 

He was the greatest general that ever drew sworn or 
comnaanded an army. 

The unexampled battles on the banks of the Rhone, 
the heroic struggle in the eai-ly morning breezes on the 
green shores ^of Trebia — on the plains of ( .nmpnnhim, 



Nk(;u() .Staus i.v ali> .'i<;i:s uf riii: W'oicMi. 89 



Cmnea, TlivRosy menus, tannen, Aiiinhiinn and Innulreds 
uf other battles of no less importance. The decisive action 
was fought at a place called Nai-agara, not for from the 
city of Zama; and here Hannabal, according to the ex- 
press testimony of his antagonist, displayed, on this oc- 
casion, all the qualities of a Consuraate general. But he 
was no-w deficient in that formidable cavali-y \\'hicli had 
so often decided the victory in his favor. Prior to the 
meeting of these mighty, before unheard of and since un- 
ecjualed, wariors he swept all, head long, before him, like a 
lirery flood, dethroning Kings and despoiling governments 
from Tifata to the shores of the Ionian sea. Hannabal 
was born 247 B. C., at Carthage and died by his own 
hand by poison at Libyssa and was buried there on the 
Coast of Bithynia. Alexandei' the Great was boi-n at 
Pella 356 B. C, 109 years before Hannabal was born. 
The former commanded 500,000 soldiers but the latter 
commanded only 102,000 soldiers while Napoleon many' 
hundred years afterward commanded a body of 300,000, 
braves, yet no strategem or heroism of theirs will bear a 
comparison to the military si)lendor and invincible en- 
gagements of Hanabal. 

On many occasions, too, his generous sympathy for 
his fallen foes bears witness of a noble spirit, and his treat- 
ment of the dead bodies of Flaminius, of Grocchus and of 
Marcellus contrasts most fayorably with the barbarity of 
Claudius Nero to that of Hasdrubal. He was only nine 
years old when his father, Hamilcar, made him swear 
ui)on the altar eternal hostility to Rome. Child as he was 
then, he never forgot his vow, and his whole life was one 
continued struggle against the power and domination of 
Rome. He was about 47 years of age when he tasted of 
t\ie "poisoned Chahce." . 

He was was a fluent speaker, and at an early age he 



40 NeCtRO Stars in ai.l' Ages of the World. 



mastered several other languages ; he composed, dniMiig 
his residence at the court of Prusia, a history of the ex- 
pedition of (,'n. Manlius Vulso against the Galations. 
Dion Cassius bears testimony to his having received an 
excellent education, not only in Punic, but in Greek and 
latin learning and general literature. Duriifg his residence 
in Spain, Hannibal married the daughter of a Span- 
ivsh Chieftain; but we do not learn that he left any chil- 
dren. He was a man of high moral character. His 
marches, tacticts and engagements with his enemy stand 
out like a full orb in the constellation of warfare with no 
one to match, equal or dim its lustre. He was a born 
comnmnder— Hannabals genius may be likened to the 
Homeric god, who in his hatred of the Trogans rose from 
the deep to rally the fainting Greeks, and to lead them 
against the enemy— so the calm courage with which 
Haimabal met his more than human adversary in his 
countries cause utterly eclipses the admiration of the 
world and that Carthagenian Army df conquorers, led 
forward into the jaw^s of death, has won for the Negro a 
niche in the observatory of fanie that shall never dim 
wl^ile recorded history is read. 

Who watt Mahabal ? 

He was the best oflicei- of finest Cavalry service in 
the world. 
Who was Hasdrubal ? 

He was the manager of Commissariat of the army for a 
Sireat manvvearsin theenemiesCountrv. under Hannabal. 

Who was Mago ? 

He was Hannabals younger brother, so full of youthful 
sy)irit and militm-y enterprise that he was put in command 
of the ambush at the battle of the Trebia. 



Xuaiio StaRvS i.v am. Auks of thk Worm*. 41 



CHAPTER VL 

SI.A VICKY IN F:UK0PE AND AMKRICA FROM 1441 t(> IST'.K 



*' Defeat may be Victory in (lisg:uise 
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.' 



*' Man, proud man, 

Robed in a little brief authority. 

Plays such frantic tricks before high heaveux 

As make angels weep." 



When and where was the thd first iVe^i'o slstvery introduced 
iimong other nations ? 

In 1441 Prince Henry, third son of John I., King of 
Portugal being engaged in Mara time expeditions against 
Africa, ca])tnred some Moors, whom he took to Portugal. 
The next year thev were allowed to ransom themselves 
and among the goods they gave in exchange for their lib- 
erty were 10 African slaves. These were the forerunners 
of the millions who have since been brought from their 
native land and sold as slaves during more than four 
hundred vears. 

What effort was tlien put forth to advance the enterprise ? 

In 1444, a company was formed at Lagas which openly 
began the African slave trade by seizing and bringing to 
Europe 200 Negroes who were sold as slaves. .Thus the 
slave traffic was begun about 447 years ago by the then 
powerful Maratime nation of Portugal. 



42 Xkgro Ntaiw is ma. ActKs oi thk W'oui.n. 



Wlint rehition did Auiericn hear to tbi.s new industry ? 

This being l)eiore the discovery of America, there was 
dull market for slaves, therefore, when America was dis- 
covered it opened iipanilliniitablequantityof fertile lands, 
the demand for labor became great and the trade in hu- 
man flesh, grew to an enormous propoi-tion. 

How laany .sliives n'cre there in the Uuiteil States (or colonies) 
before the Revolutionary War ? 

It was estimated that there were 300,000 brought 
and sold into this country alone. 

How many were first brought and where landed ? 

In December 1620 the small number of 20 slaves were 
landed on the banks of the James river in Virginia. 

To what number had the slave population grown up to close of 
the Revolutionary War ? 

Thev had increased to the number of over 700,000. 

What was the popular feelings in the colonies regarding the in- 
stitution of slavery ? 

A few of the colonies remonstrated against the inhu- 
man butchery, but in vain. The mother country believed 
in it and, therefore, carried it on in spite of the wishes of 
the colonists. 

Ho w long- did it exist in the United States ? 

From the time of its introduction in 1620 down to the 
close of the late war in 1865, 245 vears. 

After the overthrow of the British jtower in the American colonies 
did the Constitution of the United States permit the tra flic to con- 
tinue as it had been ay the fJnglish authorities in the colonies? 

Oh, yes, it was permitted by the organic law or con- 
stitution. In 1S08 the importation of African slaves 
to the American shores was forbidden under the re- 
straints of heavy penalties. 



Neouo Staus in ai-l Ages of the Would. 43 



Where else on the coutiiwnt WHS chattel jimperty to he luul in 
human beings ? 

On all the West India Islands—nndei- the Fi^eneh in 
Hayti and St. Doininfjo— nnder the English iu Jamaica— 
luider the Spanish in Cuba. 

Which af these governments were the first to restrain the impor- 
tation feature of the traffic ? 

The United States, but it was not the first to abolish 
slavery itself. 

Which was the first of these great powers to purge itself of this 
barbarous, featis practice in modern civilization ? 

England was the first government to liberate her 
slaves. This was done in August 1st, 1884, A bill for 
this purpose was introduced April 23rd, 1833 and after 
some delay it passed both Houses of Parliament and re- 
ceived the royal assent August 28th, 1833. 

Who were the chief agitators in England for the gradual aboli- 
tion of slavery in all the British dominions ? 

A Mr. Clarkson, an English Philanthropist began to 
agitate the matter. Soon afterwards the honorable Wil- 
iiam Wilberforce, a member of Parliament joined him. 
The signs of the times seemed to say : 

Oppression shall not always reign, 

There dawns a better bay, 
AVhen freedom burst from every chain, 

Shall have ti-iumphant sway; 
The right shall over might prevail, 
And truth like Hero, armed in mail. 
The hosts of tyrant wrong assail, 

And hold eternal sway. 

What results attended their humane efforts ? 

For many years the Christian efforts of these apostles 
of liberty were fruitless until 1823 a society was organized 
whose patent object was the final and complete extinc- 
tion of this nefarious system. 



44 Nkgro Staks ix all Ages of thk Wokld, 

Dhl this barbiirity ohtaiu over the whole area of the United States '.' 

It Avas confined only to that part of this country 

known as the Southern States, to wit: The Caro- 

linas, Virjz:inia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Marv- 

land, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, 

Missouri and Arkansas. 

XJpon the admission of what State was the question of the liiui- 
tation of slavery hotly contested ? 

Upon the admission of the then Western territory 
Kansas was the ever memorable debate between the lead- 
ers in Congress of the Democratic or slave faction and the 
free soil parties. 

The one faction desired her admission with slavery as 
a condition precedent, while the other contended that she 
should be admitted upon terms void of that element. 
This discussion led both parties to great lengths in the 
maintainanceof their respective positions on the question, 
even to feuds and riots which was not circumscribed to 
the boundaries of Kansas. 
What was the terms of her admission ? 

She was admitted in 1861 upon terms of constitution- 
al freedom, in keepin with the provisions of the 13th, 14th 
and 15th, amendments to the constitution of the United 
States. 

Who were the most prominent leaders in this glorious ci-usnd^ 
for human rights ? 

Chief among the long array of invincible knights of lib* 
ertv and christian civilization was the nations first 
martyred president, Abraham Lincolin ; behind him is a 
bright legeon of Spartan braves, each of whom was able 
to sway Senates by unrestrained eloquence and, who by 
virtue of conviction and moral courage, would wade 
througe fields of slaughter to the throne of Justice and 
Truth. 



Negro Stars in all Ages of thi: World. 45 

Ainon<>' these were the Giddings, Greeleys, Summers 
Garrisons, Phillips, aided by such heroic ])atriots as the 
Sewards, G. Smiths, the Lanes, Mortons, Blaines, But- 
lers, Shei-nmns, Andrews and last but not least Fred- 
erick Douglass himself, an escaped slave, struck a blow 
more terrible in its effects than the masterful phillipics of 
Demosthenes against the crown of Macedonia, 

These are a few wliose names will live, 

Not in the memory, but in the hearts of men; 

Because those hearts they comforted and raised, 

And where they saw Gods image cast down 

Lifted them up again and blew the dust 

From their worn features and disfigured limbs. 

WhHt internal loail disruptions shocked tlie tender sensibilities of 
tlie country during tlisse ysars of the slave question ? 

Nat. Turner's insurrection at Southampton, Va., in 
1832. 

Denmark Vesseys insurrection and plot to capture 
Charleston, S.C, and seize the national arsenal at that 
place, in 1840. 

And John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry in 1849, 
were all lion-like strategies set in motion to break the 
jaws of the ferocious slave monster ; and each, as a con- 
sequence, gloriously failed. But the result of each at~ 
tempt was to arouse the whole country while these out- 
breaks all togehter sufficed to present the issue of slavery 
or freedom tersely, forcibly before the gazing, bewildered 
world. 

Humanity sweeps onward, * * * * * 

While the hooting mob of yesterday in silent awe return, 
To gather up the scattered ashes into history's golden urn. 

Which of the Held officers, in the Union ranks, were the moiT con- 
spicuous in the late civil war ? 

Generals Grant, McLelland, Sheridan, Sherman, Mede, 
Rosecrans, Butler. 



46 N'egro Stars i.v all Ages of the Woklu. 

Who were the chief staff of officers in the opposing- army ? 

Generals Lee, Jackson, Hood, Johnson and Hamj)ton. 
How many wen were put in service for the Union ? 

The aory:re2:ate number of men credited on the sevei-al 
calls and put into service of the United States Army, the 
Navy and Marine corps during the late war was 2, 656, 55H. 

Ho w many colored men enlisted in the Union army hs soldiers in 
the late war between the States and how lost their lives in that 
ever memorable struggle ? 

186,017 colored men joined the army for the love of 

freedom and Union ; therein 30,000, of this black phalanx 

sealed their devotion to the cause with their lives ? 

When was the institution of American Negro bondage and rebul 
lion overthrown ? 

In June the 19th, A, D. 1(S65, this double-headed hydra 
for 245 years nestling and rankling, brooding and poison- 
ino; the fair bosom of our American civilization, was at 
last cast off as was the viper from St. Paul's hand on the 
isle of Melita and crushed forever. 
In 1865 how many Xegroes were there in the United States ? 

There were 3,938,000. 
How many are there now, (1889.) 

There are now" more than 9,000,0o0. 

The inborn impulse, the life, the soul of the Freedmens 
Jubilee cannot fail to find a glorious lodgment in the ap- 
preciative sense of every patriotic man, woman and child 
in the "land of the brave and the home of the free," and 
especially those of us who are humble recipients of heaven's 
copious tidings of relief from the hell of all social institu- 
tions. 

The scene on this eventful occasion was something- 
more than captivating— see the mother, no longer a chat- 
tel slave, with her darling infant clinging to her swelling 
breast, as she shouts— 



Negro Stars ix all Ages of the World. 47 

JUBILEE ! 

Lift aloft the starry banner, 

Let it wave o'er land and sea, 
Shout alud and sing Hosanna! 

Praise the Lord who sets us free ! 

Here we stand amazed and wonder 

Such a happj' change to see ; 
Slaver3''s bonds are burst asunder ! 

Praise the Lord weo set us free I 

Long we lay in darkness pining, 

Not a ray of hope had iwe. 
Now the sun of freedom's shining I 

Praise the Lord who set us free. 

In one loud and joyous chorus, 

Heart and soul join will we, 
Freedom's sun is shining o'er us! 

Praise the Lord who set us free ! 

While the poor, old, wornout, decripit, ex-slave father 
leaps out of his chains— heart full of gratitude to God and 
his northern warriors— waving his callous hand toward 
the emblem of independence— the flag of his country —which 
to him for centuries prior, had been only an instru- 
ment of penal stripes, void of a single star of hope in the 
stormy night of 424 years (all told) of servitude. 

To him there is nothing annoving in Brvant's poetic 
flight: 

The grand old flag, forever let her fly ; 
Lightning rolled in evere fold and flashing victory. 
God breathe all round it, and when e^l time is done, 
Let freedom's liaht that knows no night 
Make every star a sun ! 

A more benefitting and transcendent weight of terres- 
tial glory have crowned the brow of no man in ancient or 
modern times than the grateful ^^-ailings and expressions 
of the colored people upon the untimely demise of the 
noble souled Wendell Phillips : 



48 NiCGRo Stars in am, A(jkk of the Would. 

It is not cnoiiLjli to win rifi:lits tVom a Kinj;' and write them down 

in a book : 
New men, new lift-lits; and the fatlier-s' code the sons may never 

brook. 
What is liberty now where license then; their freedom our yoke 

should be, 
And each new decade must have new men to determine its liberty. 
Mankind is a marchinj; army, with a broadening front the while; 
Shall it crowd its bulk on the farm paths, or clearto theoutAvard 

file? 
Its pioneers are the dreamers who heed neither tonjj:ue nor pen 
Of the human spiders whose silk is wove from the lives of toilinji- 

Men. 

Come, brothers, here to the burial ! But weep not. rather rejoice. 
For his fearless life and his fearless death ; for his true nnequaled 

voice, 
Like a silver trumpet sounding the note of human right ; 
For his brave heart always readj' to enter the weak one's fight : 
For his soul unmoved bj' tlie mob's -wild shout or the social sneer's 

disgrace ; 
For his freeborn spirit that drew no line between class or creed or 

race. 

Come, workers ; here was a teacher, and the lesson he taught was 

good; . 
There are no classes or i-aces, but one human i)rothei-hood ; 
There are no creeds to be hated, no colors of skin debarred ; 
Mankind is one in its rights and wrongs — one right, one ho])e. 

one guard ; 

While he Hved, there \vas one man endowed with a 
strong sense of justice " who would be heard," and his 
voice always made the opjjressor tremble. He was so feai-- 
less, so pure, so simple, and so truthful and unselfish that 
the poisoned arrows of hatred and malice never reached 
the height he stood ujjon. 

When my mind ji'oes back to the davs of my boyhood 
and I see such an one standing on the stage of old Music 
Hall, New Haven, the seat of Yale College, before a mad- 
dened crowd of men, who thought him an enemy because 
he denounced wslavei-y as a ciim<' if it was lawful, and hear 



NEGim Stars ix atx Agiss of the Wori.©. 4y 



Slim say in that rich silver tone, "Hf)wl and hisH, but nei- 
their your ho\vi« nor your hisses can chancre the unalter^ 
able facts of history," a n<i then see that<Hie man awe that 
an^ry crowd into respectful silence, I find it hard to keep 
back the tears. He seemed like Paul at Ephesus, only 
grander, if possible. During^ all that thirty years' conflict 
with chattel slavery, he never once hesitated or doubted, 
and never once sheathed his blade of more than Damascus 
keenness until the last slave market and pen was de- 
molished. 

The same may be said of the hundreds of others who 
championed the cause of the oppressed, and the thousands 
who sacrificed their lives for the sake of humanity. 

When and by what weans wei^e the slaves of the West India. 
- Islands liberated ? 

In 1790 the slaves of St. Domin*>;o insurrected or re- 
belled against their French masters, and clalmtd their right 
to freedom. The French manned and dispatched strong, 
active fleets of war to lay the rising insui-gents. They 
were met by the determined brow and hard hand of 
the long-suffering victim. The slave was fighting for 
liberty and manhood, while the trained, well-disciplined 
F'rench soldier was demoralizing these patriotic, sable 
sons with the mailed paraphernalia of warfor filthy lucre — 
a bargain and sale in human blood. 

Which party was victorious ? 

The slaves banished the masters from the province, 
and spirited their ships from its shores. 

Who was the immortal leader of this great revolution ? 

Touissaint L'Ouverture lives. 

What political character did the Haytians assume ? 

They immediately organized a representative form of 



50 Neeftc) Staks in am. A^ks of the World. 



p^overnnient, making Tonissuint L'Onvertiire Emperor, 
After hJH niivsfortmiein bein^i'Mptiired and earned away as 
a p'-isoner to Paris, triced and executed, the form of gov- 
ernment was ehanuedto the form of a Republic, and Desa- 
iines elected as President. On this Island their were ()00,~ 
000 slaves at that time. 

Hnw many shives were there in Cuhn nnder the Spanish, and bow 
and when did they obtain their liljerty? 

There were 574,102 slaves in (\il)a tip to 1879 when 
an act ofi»radnal emancipation was passed, whif',i in 188r» 
culminated in an act of <2;eneral and immediate emancipa- 
tion. 

How about Brazil ? 

Slavery in Brazil has been completed. The government 
did the work gradually and comf)en8ated the owners 
measurably for the value of their human chattel property, 
— (See Hawkins, Africans in Africa, &c.) 

The Queen Regent of Spain has done an act which the 
friends of humanity all over the world will rejoice at — she 
has signed a decree freeing the slaves in Cuba fi-om the re- 
mainder of their term of servitude. This reform was be- 
gun over seventeen years, ago in the law of February 10th, 
1809, which provided for the conditional liberation of cer- 
tain cla8v«!es of slaves in Cuba, and for the payment of rec- 
ompense to the owners of the men and women freed. In 
1879 a bill was passed by theC'ortes for the gradual abo- 
lition of Cuban slavery. This law at once liberated slaves 
from 55 years old and upward. Slaves from 50 to 55 
were set free in 18S0, from 45 to 50 in 1882; from 40 to 
45 in 1884, and from 85 to 40 in 1886, The in 1 en tic n of 
the law was to set free those from 80 to 85 years old in 
1888 and those under 80 in 1890. In the seven years be- 
tween 1870 and 1877 the number of slaves in Cuba was 



Np;«fiio Stask» in alx Ages of tbe Wokld. 51 

decreasedby 136,000, but the population .showed a falling 
off in the sanje ])eno(l of :iO,50«'. In Deceniber, 1878, Cal)a 
still had 227,002 tie^ro Klaves. We may conrliide, there- 
fore, that Queen Christine has bestowed n[)Oti U[)ward of 
200,000 slaves the ri<ihts and privileges of freemen, and 
the act is none the less magnanimons berause it has an- 
tiripated by four years the emancipation in 1890coytem- 
pTatedby tbe Cortes itself. Thna by a step, and by an act 
as noble as well-timed, ir^pain rids heiself of the reproach 
of being the only European State permitting slavery in its 
colonies, and gives one more ])ronjise of +he new and vig- 
orous life which seems to be returning to her in these lat- 
ter days. 
Does shivery exist in any part of the civilized world ? 

No, except in cases-of penal servitude where the party 
stands guilty of somecrime. "Now the banners of freedom, 
civilizatioD and (Christianity float high in the breezes which 
fan tho.e b^^iiutifiil Islands.'^ 
Who was M. Schoelt'.her ? 

He is a venerable and highly distinguished member of 
the French Senate, who in the firvsthouis of the revolution 
of 1848 drew up the decrees and cariied through the nieas- 
ure of emancipation to the slaves in all the French colf)nies. 

Speaking of him the Honorable Frederick DouglasH,. 
who had the pleasure of an interview with him when on a 
recent visit to Paris, said in a private letter published m 
the Boston Transcript : 

A splendid testimonial of the gratitude of the emanci- 
pated people of the French colonies i« seen in his house, in 
the shape of a figure of Liberty, in bronze, breaking the 
chains of the slave. The house of this venerable and phi- 
lanthropic Senator has in it many of the relics of slave- 
holding barbarism and crueltv. Besides broken fetters 
and chains, which had once galled the limbs of slaves, w 



:)2 Negro Staks in Ai.r, Acas of the: VVoR^n, 



showed me one iron collnf with lour hn<ie pi-on^s, placed 
upon the neeks of refi-Mc-torv slaves, desijined to entanole 
and in)pede them in the hush^^s if they should attempt tO' 
run avvav. I had seen the same helKsh implements in 
the States, hut did not know until I saw them there that 
they were also used in the French Islands, 

Wh»t ooncJusioDS ma,y he rlinwn from the obnervntions in tbis' 
chapter ? ' 

Two important factfs aresuj^^ivested, and a few humane 
political lessons learned upon a careful study of this brief 
diapter: Fii-st, we may note, with no little degree of - 
national pride, the st(^ut tenacity— the unifying prin-iple— 
the cf)nventionaI machinery constituting the genius of oui 
ancient country. 

For more than twocrenturies the experiment of a great 
democraticrepultlic,likeours,forthef]rsttimein the history 
of the worldy has been looked on by all lovers of our con- 
f-titutional liovernment with themost kindlvenriositv and 
the most ho])tful sympathy. Though internal fermenta- 
tions as well as external forces have somewhat disturbed 
the even tenor and cheeked the progress of our national 
life, yet our self-rehanty strong, sober-minded, intelligentr 
and patriotic Anglo-Saxon stock, well trained in the pro- 
cess of ages to the difficult art of self-government, and the 
steady hand and forgiving heart of the colored laborers 
and late victims held their own during a long, bitter and 
bloody civil war — then shook hands across thegory chasn^ 
— recognized and opened up the avenues of industry and 
eitizen life. This was, no doubt, a difficult and slip|^>ery 
pro{)lem to solve. 

The shive-o'jracy of the fertile Southland, assuming the 
ittitudeofa dangerous Titanic Confederacy threw her 
fiery forces against the Rej)ublic of the United Stiltes, but by- 
great energy and a hot passage at arms, the rebellion vva« 



Negro Stars in am. Ages of the WorIvD. 53 

put down, and out of the clash of arjns gi-ew freedom and 
national unity — upon this fabric wis builded the plebeian 
and patrican elements of our body politic, who no longer 
are arranged in a hostile demeanor, but confronting each 
other with equal rights before the law, and adjusting 
their individual differences in a fairly -balanced equilibrimn. 
These are all forces largely operating in the present dav, 
which justify us in hoping that the improved toneof social 
feeling in all the relations of man to man, which we owe 
to the great Christian principle of living as brother witli 
brother, as sister with sister, under a common father-hocMl, 
may be crowned in the near future with glory and illus- 
trious success. 

The holv evangelist furnishes us with manv teautifol 
illustrations of strength and harmony. 

"They «hall be as onein my hand" 
* * » * « . * ■* 

Moreover 1 will make a covenant of pea^e with them; it 
shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will 
place them, and multiply them, and will set my saoctoarj 
in the midst of them forever more." This relates with, 
peculiar aptitude to the cosmopolitan races of Amer- 
ica as it did many centuries ago ro the refractory tribes of 
Judah and Ephraim, 



54 Nkoro Stars in aj.l, Ageb of the Woki.d. 



CHAPTER VIL 



SOCIAL RELATIONS. 



What wa^ the moral religious coudition of the people in Africa, 
during- this long and brilliant career ? 

While «he was thuK moving- along in the enjoyment of 

her magnificent proportion ot acquirement and possession,. 

she was also "sinning in high [)lares." 

Was a person's civil or social rights denied or questioned in any 
of the ancient States? 

No. That question developed only as the depravity 

of man increased. Thiti monster is a child of slavery and 

mnorance and whose home is limited to the radius of the 

territories where these conditions are adhered toand wor- 

ahi|)ed. 

What distinction, if any, is there netween the American and the 
Uimloo caste ? % 

The American caste is fbnnded on the color of the in- 
dividuaL If he is black or swarthy, or does nf)t come up 
to what is su[)posed to be the standard whiteness lie is 
ostracised, denied equal social and civil rights with those 
whose skins iwebrighter. The color ofthe individual is the 
mhasure of his manhood to a \evy large extent, es])ecially 
and particularly in the Southern States. Casfe in the Hin- 
doo sets up the social rank or material condition of the 
individual as a measure of re«-ognition. 

During the days of dazzling refinement and enviable 
splendor, while the storm of rivalry was rife, there wa» 



Neubo Stars in all AGEf5 of thk World. 55 



no scii'li heresy amoutj; oiir nncients as color-phorbia or 
race prejudice to lend its baleful iiiHuence to ostracise, im- 
prison, convict or to slau<;hter any individual or class of 
persons. Not even did the untutored heafhen. the unso- 
phisticated barbarian, dream of such a subterfuge, but it 
was left, it ap])ears, by the ^ods of the lower world, to 
civilized, Christian America to spurn the principle of the 
brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. Can a 
sonl believe in and feel the force of the teaching*! of hia 
Savior, when he said, "there is neither Greek nor Jew, 
Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, for ye are all one." 
And then 

Find his fellow ^m'lty of a skin 

Not colored like his own, and having power, 

•Doom and devote him as his lawful prey ? 



56 Negro Stakh in am. Agek or thk Woki.d. 



CHAPTEK VIII. 



THE FALL OF AFRICA. 

Did these African empires withstiiml their own civil feuds nncj 
public sins ? 

No. The pleasing grandeur ufthe macrobiotic EthiopK 
whom the great Cambyses op the Persian could not con- 
quer, surrendered to fate and passed away. A condition 
of social poisoning })ermeated the whole compact, inHam- 
ing, agonizing wherever it touched, and sinking into a fes- 
tering barbarism. 

Prophet Isaiah, speaking of these peoples asindividualn 
and as bodies politic, said, her "strong cities shall be as a 
forsaken bough * * * and there shall be desolation," 

The prophetic language of Isaiah very fittingly and 
eloquently and terribly describes the present condition of 
the once renowned institutions of Africa: 

"The (these) nations shall rush like the rushing of 
many waters: * * * and they shall flee far off, and 
shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the 
winds, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind." 

"It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt 
in from generation to generation ; neither shall the Ara^ 
bian pitch tent there; neither shall the sheppards make 
their foh] there." 

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their 
houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall 



Negro Stars in all Agrs of thk World. 



t>j 



(hvell there, and Satyrw shall dance there. And the wild 
beasts of the island shall cry in their desolate houses and 
dragons in their pleasant palaces." 

And it came to pass— To-day Babylon is lost in forest 
and rnbbish and the seat -^f Syria is a waste. 

'' Bec.'uise thou hnst forgott-n the God of thy salvation, and 
hast not been winifovd of the rock of thy streng-th." 

This was their '"arraignment before the bai- of public 
retribution. 

The greatei- part of this stupendous fabric had thus 
dwindled down to and by "pride, haughtiness and arro- 
gance." 

It a])pears to have been a part of His divine economy 
to purge, reform and rebuild this long favored race; with 
respect to these nations He said, through his immortal 
mouthpiece, " I will make a man more precious than fine 
gold, even * * the golden wedge of Ophir." 

Babylon was first threatened, but still stood, undei- 
weight of series of moral mistakes, flashing forth her tow- 
ering brilliancy like a resisted sun, then paled, quivered 
and fell. 

Syria was dashed to pieces and rnins merciless plow 
share turned her into dust and debris forever. 

EiHiopiA, then "Egypt" is thrown into confusion— 
her people whipped in battle— captured and led away in 
captivity, old and young, naked and barefooted amidst the 
greatest desolation bv the Asvrian kino-. 
What great phenomena transpired after this warning- ? 

"When the end come the heavens shook and the earth 
moved out her place— in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and 
in the (that) day of his fierce anger." 

What of the military struggle between these distant countries; 

They became involved in civil war— "thev shall fio-ht 



5S XiCGiu) Stak's i.v Ai.i- AGi>>i or thk WoRr.rr. 

every one ai»'aiiiyt his brother/' while the Roman and 
Grecian arms were hi'ovig;ht to bear a^-ainst tlieni. 

What iva.s the result ? 

Her enemies were victorious. Her kingdoms divided 
and destroyed and her people scattered and ])eeled. They 
i-emainetl under this worse than subjugation for many 
generations. 

Describe their condition under SHnicens ? 

Then followed a moral and mental gloom of impeneti-a- 
ble darkness, measured on I v by milleniums of disappoint- 
ment and reduced the land of ancient glorv into paganism 
while feticism and slavery have continned to feast on its 
vitality and made it an object of pity to thecivilized world. 
With these deteriorating environments Africa has made 
amazing progress backwards, 

Whnt nations overrun and spread their prowesses over the 
wastes of Africa? 

The Romans and Greeks and Asvrians. 

What can you say of the Saracen sway in Africa ? 

When they overpowered the effeminate defendants of 
the Greeks and Romans, and when tliev had firmly estab- 
lished themselves among the splendid relics and smouldei-- 
fng fires of African supremacy, the\" wrought a marvelous 
change in the social system there. 

What was the effect of this system ? 

An auspicious day seemed to be dawning on the conti- 
nent, the arts and sciences were revived on that conse- 
crated soil 



Nictsiu) Stahs in ai-l A(?ios of tuk WowM). 



-jO 



CHAPTER IX, 



AFRK^a's UEIIEMPTIO.N. 



What are the prosj)evts of Afnca,\s early redemptioT) ? 

There are a number of growing- j^-overnments on hev . 
"borders, which may yet, viewin^froni the present outlook, 
s])read then- banners, all lit u]) with (Miristian li^ht, over 
that vast continent and brin^- Africa back to her olden 
beantv of conventional svninietrv- 
Name a few of her leadinfjc civiUzcd ffovernweiit'^ of to-day T 

Liberia, 

Natals. 

Sierra Tv(3ne. 

Znlki. 

All blessed with jj^veat trade centres as Monrovia, Na- 
tal and Cairo— and Qneenstown and hundreds of smaller 
towns spreadino' over her fertile plainsand alon^-thecoast. 

'(live mea.n idea ofZuUu character ? 

There is very much to admire in the Znln character. 
They belong to the ore.at (\\U\v, family, and stand compli- 
mented in hi.-tory. 
What is their Capitol town ? 

Natal. In and around which abounds ])lenty andcmi' 
tentment, amidst excellent 8chool« and churches. 



«)0 Negro Stars in ai.i. Aces of the World. 

/ 

What of their hunmv or disposition ? 

They are a good hnmorecl, generous and independent 
people. These manly individuals are proud of their "dark 
hue." ' , 

When asked, " what is the finest complexion." what is their 
reply ? 

"Like my own, 'black' with a little tinge of red" — 
They love to numbei- amongst the excellencies of their king, 
that " he chooses to be black." 

Whnt can you say of the government of Liberia as it is, its form 
and etc ? 

It is a constitutional government on the western bord- 
ers of Africa — was organized about the vear 1822 bv the 
American Colonization Society and was modeled upon the 
plan of the United States Government. Time and industry 
will, eventually, develop it into a powerful sovereignty. 

What is her capitol ? 

Monrovia. And has a population of about 13,000. 

What other places evince and confirm Africa's advancing redenip-. 
tion ? 

Tripoli and Sieri-a Leon, are both noted for their mo- 
rality,Iearaing and material pi-ogress. Egypt is steadily 
grasping and cultivating a national influence. 

Every where Africa's day is breaking— ever changing 
event presents a bright phase, all over the to-day's his- 
torical sky w^e see the promise plainer written and in the 
process of fullfilling — every war, every armistice, every 
great enterprise, every church and school (untrammelled 
by brotherly hatred) moves the Negro "forward" and 
raises him on plains higher and more beautiful than Prin- 
cess Amytis "elevated groves." 

To-day we see, where jungles that once furnished alair 
for the ravenous beasts, colleges, academies, churches 



NKdiu) Stars in am. Auks of the Woiti.n. (51 



abound and some of the ])ure.st men and women, ripest 
scholars, and the ablest divines of the world. 

Therefore, she will live another day among- the peoples 
of the earth, and play her second part in the theatre of the 
world, then indeed, shall her sun leap forth in the effulgence 
of a full orb of light, heralding her restoration fixed in and 
based upon a foundation of the highest Godly civilization. 

Wlmt is our duty, as Negro Americans, respecting the growth, 
(levelopenieiit nnd fin-Rl triumph of Airicnii civilization overAfri- 
am paganism ? 

While Ethiopia is "to-day'' suppliant and stretching 
forth her bruised hands unto God,- it is the duty of us so- 
journing here yet in America to speedily prepare ourselves 
as actors, intelligently, honorably, and steadily join 
heartily in the great crusade, against mental and spiritual 
darkness.. 



C^2 Negro Stars ix ai.i. Aoks of the Wori.i). 



CHAPTER X. 



BIOtlRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CELICBKATEI) MEN AX]) WOMEN. 



A PERTINENT QUESTION BY FKEDEKICK DOUGLASS. 



Is it not astonishing, that while we are ploughing, 
planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, 
erecting houses and constructing bridges, building ships, 
working in metals of brass, iron, and copper, silver and 
gold ; that wdiile we are reading, writing, and ciphering, 
acting as clerks, merchants, and secretaries, having among 
us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, 
orators, and teachers; that while we are engaged in all 
manner of enterprises common to other men, digging gold 
in ('alifornia, capturing the whale in the Pacific, breeding- 
sheep and cattle on the hillside: living, moving acting, 
thinking, planning; living in families as husbands, wives, 
and children ; and, above all, confessing and worshipping 
the Christians God, and looking hopefully for immortal life 
beyond the grave; — is it not astonishing, I say, thatvve 
are called upon to prove that we are men'; 



')»? 



Ni:(;u() Stars i.n all Acirs of tuk \Voul.d. 08 



MRS. PHIM.IS WIIKATI.KY. 



Who \v;is Mrs. Phillis WheHtley:' 

At about the age of seven this child was stolen fi-oirt 
Afi'ica and forced into Amet-ican slavery. 

She could not tell how long it was since the slaA'e- 
traders tore her from her parents, nor wjiere she had been 
since that time, The poor little orphan had probably gone 
through so much suffering and terror, and been so unable 
to make herself understood by anybody, that her mind 
had become bewildered concerning the past. She soon 
learned to speak English; but she could remember nothing 
about Africa, except that she used to see her mother pour 
out water before the rising sun. Almost all the ancient 
nations of the world supposed that a Great Spirit had his 
dwelling in the sun, and they worshipped that Spint in 
various forms. One of the most common modes of wor 
ship was to pour out water, or wine at the rising of 
the sun, and to utter a brief prayer to the Spirit of that 
glorious luminary. Probably this ancient custom had 
been handed down, age after age, in Africa, an(i in that 
fa:;hion the untaught mother of little Phillis continued to 
worship the God of her ancestors. The sight of the great 
splendid orb, coming she knew not whence, rising appar- 
ently out of the hills to make the whole world glorious 
with light, and the devout reverence with which her 
mother hailed its return every morning, might naturally 
impress the child's imagination so deeply, that she remem- 
bered it after she had forgotten everything else about her 
natiye land. 

A wonderful change took place in the little forlorn 
stranger in the course of a year and a half. She not only 



(;4 Nfmuo Stars i.v ai.i. Ages of thk WorcLi>. 



learned to speak English eoiTectly, but she was able to 
read fiiieiitly in any part of the Bible. She evidently pos- 
sessed uncommon intelligence and a great desire for knowl- 
edge. She was often found trying to make letters with 
charcoal on the walls and fences. Mrs. Wheatley's daugh- 
ter, ]:)erceiving her eagerness to learn, undertook to teach 
her to read and write. She found this an easy task, for 
her pupil learned with astonishing quickness. At the same 
time she showed such an amiable, affectionate disposition, 
that all members of the family became much attached to 
her. Her gratitude to her kind, motherly mistress was 
unbounded, and her greatest delight was to do anything- 
to j)lease her. • 

When she was about fourteen years old, she began to 
write poetry; and it w^s pretty good poetry, teo. Owing 
to these uncommon manifestations of intelligence, and to 
the delicacy of her health, she wasneverputto hard house- 
hold work, as she was intended at the time of her pur- 
chase. She was kept constantly with Mrs. Wheatly and 
her daughter, employed in light and easy services for them. 
Her poetry attracted attention, and Mrs. Wheatley's 
friends lent her books, which she read with great eager- 
ness. She soon acquired a good knowledge of geograp.hy. 
history, and English poetry; of the last she was pai-ticu- 
larly fond. After a while, they found she Avas trying to 
learn Latin, whicli she so far njastered as to be able to 
read it understandingly. There was no law in Massachu- 
setts against sla\es learning to read and write, as there 
have been in many of the States ; and her mistress, so far 
from trying to hinder her, did euerything to encourage hei- 
love of learning. She always cslled her affectionately. 
"My Phillis," and seemed to be as proud of her attain- 
ments as if she had been her own daughter. She even al- 
lowed her to have a fire and light in her own chamber in 



Nkijko Staks in all Acks of the World. fiiS 



the eveniiij»:. thnt she niioht study and write down her» 
thonghts whenever they came to her. 

Phillis was of a very religious turn of mind, and when 
she was about sixteen shejoined the Orthodox Church, that 
worshipjted in the Old-South Meeting-house in Boston. 
Her character and dej)ortnient were such that she was 
considered an ornament to the church. Clergymen and 
other literary jycisons who visited at Mrs. Wheatlev's 
took a good deal of notice of her. Her poems were brought 
forward to be read to the ct)mpany, and were often much 
praised. She was not unfrequently invited to the houseis' 
of wealthy and distinguished people, who liked to show 
her off as a kind of wonder. Most young girls would have 
had their heads completelv turne<l bv so much flatterv and' 
attention; but seriousness and humility seemed to be nat- 
ural to Phillis. vShe always retained the same gentle, mod- 
est deportment that had won Mrs. Wheatley's heart when- 
she first saw her in the slave market. Sometimes when 
she went abroad, she was invited to sit at table with 
other guests ; but she always modestly declined, and i-e- 
quested that a plate might be placed for her on a side 
table. Being well aware of the common prejudice against 
her complexion, she feared that some one might be offend- 
ed by her lompany at their meals. By pursuing this 
course she manifested a natui-al politeness, which proved- 
her to be more truly refined than any person could be who 
objected to sit beside her on account of her color. 

Although she was tenderly cared for, and not reqnir-ed 
to do any fatiguing work, her constitution never recov- 
ered from the shock it had received in early childhood. 
When she was about nineteen years old, her health failed; 
so rapidly that physicians said it was necessary for her tj) 
take a sea-voyage, A son of Mr. Wheatley's was going to 



m NKGKO KTAr«5 IN- Af.L AGES (IF THK WORt.Tf. 



England on commercial business, andhismother proposeri: 
tliat Phillis should go with him. 

In Eno-laml she received even more than had been be- 
stowed her at home. Several of the nobility invited her to. 
their houses ; and her poems ,vere published in a volume, 
with an engraved likeness of the author. In this picture 
she looks gentle and thoughtful, and the shape of her head 
denotes intellect. One of the engravings was sent to Mrs."^ 
Wheatley, who was delighted with it. When one of her 
relatives called, she pointed it out to her, and said, '"Look 
at uiv Phillis I Does s.he not seem as if she would speak to 
me?" 

i^till the young ]X)etess was not spoiled by flattery. 
One of. the relatives of Mrs. Wheatley informs us, that 
"not all the attention she received, nor all the honors that 
wevd heai^d upon her, had the slightest influence upon her 
temper and deportment. She was still the Siinit? single- 
hearted, unsophiscated being.'' 

She addressed a poem to the Earl of Dartmouth, who 
was very kind to her during her visit to England. Hav- 
ing expressed a hope for the overthrow of tyranny, she 
says : — 

"Should you, nty I.orcl, Avhile j^ou peruse my song-, 
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,— 
Whence flow these wishes for the .'ommon good. 
By feeling hearts alone best undei-stood, — 
I, young^ in life, by seeming cruel fate, 
Was snatched from Afric's fancied happy state. 
What pangs excruciating must molest. 
What sorrows labor in my parent's breast ! 
Steeled was that soul, and by no jnisery moved. 
That from a father seized his babe beloved. 
Such was my case ; and can I then but pray 
Others may never feel tyrannic sway." 

The English friends of Phillis wished to present her to 



Xt;gk('» Staks IX xiA, Ages of thk Woin-Tt. 67 



their king, George the Third, who was soon expected in 
Londou. But letters fioni America infornie<i her that hei- 
benefactress, Mrs. Wheatlej, was in declining health', and 
greatlv desired to see her. No honors conld divert her 
mind froiM the friend of lier childhood. She returned to 
Boston ininiediat-ely. The good lady died soon after; Mi-, 
AVheatley soon followed: and the daughter, the kind in- 
structress of her youth, did not lon^ survive, the son 
married and settled in England. Foi- a nhort time^Phillis 
sstayed with a friend of her deceased benefactress; then she 
hired a room and lived by herself. It was a sad changi- 
if or her. 

The war -of the American Bevolutlon broke out. In 
the autumn oi 177G General Washington had his head- 
Hiuarters at Cambridg-e, Massachusetts; and the spirit 
moved Phillis to address some ctf)m])liraentary verses to 
him. In reply, he sent her the followingcourteous note.^ 

"I thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of 
nie in the elegant lines you enclosed. However undeserv- 
ing I may be of such encomium, the style and manner ex- 
hibit a striking proof of yonr poetical talents. In honor 
•of which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have 
iniblished the poem, had I not been apprehensive that, 
while I only meant to give the world this new instance of 
your genius, I might have incurred the imputation of van- 
ity. This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it 
a place in the public prints, 

•' If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near head- 
quarters, I shall be hap])y to see a person so favored bv 
the Muses, and to whom Natuit- had been so liberal and 
beneficent in her dispensations. 

*'I am, with great respect, 

'* Your obedient, humble servant, 

■"Geok(je Washington." 



(W N'EGKo Stars is am. A(m:s ok thk \V(JKrj>. 



The early friends of Phillis were dead, or scattered 
abroad, and she felt alone in the \Vorld. She formed an 
acquaintance with a colored man bv the name of Peters, 
who kept a grocery shop. He was more tnan commonly 
intellijLi,ent, s])oke Huently, wi-ote easily, dressed well, and 
was handsonie in his person. He offered marriage, and in 
an evil hour she accepted him. He proved to be lazy, 
proud and harsh tempered. He neglected his business, 
failed, and became \ery poor. Though unwilling to do 
hard work himself, he wanted to make a drudge of his 
wife. Her constitution was frail, she had been unaccus- 
tomed to hardship, nnd she was the mother of three chil- 
dren, with no one to help ler in her household labors and 
cares. He had no pity on her, and instead of trying to 
lighten her load, he made it heavier by his bad temper. 
The little ones sickened and died, and their gentle mother 
was completely broken down by toil and sorrow. Some 
of the descendants of hei- lamented mistress at last heard 
of her illness and went to see her. They found her in a 
forlorn situation, suffering for theconjmon comforts of life. 
The Revolutionary war was still raging. Everybody was 
mt)urning for sons and husbands slain in battle. The 
country was very poor. The currency was so deranged 
that a goose cost forty dollars, and other articles in pro- 
])ortion. In such a state of things, people were too anxious 
and troubled to think about the African poetess, whom 
they had once delighted to honor; or if they transiently 
remembered her, they took it for granted that her hus- 
band provided for her. And so it happened that the gifted 
woman who had been patronized by wealthy Bostonians, 
and who had rolled through London in the splendid car- 
riages of the English nobility, lay dying alone, in a cold, 
dirty, comfortless room. It was a mournful reverse of 
itortune; but she was patient and resigned. She made ncj 



TNicr.Ko St.vks its Ai.i, :\(;r:s ov tiik ^N Oin.n. R • 



«complaliitoflieriinfeerm<i"hnsTjan(l; lint the iiei^hl)ors said 
that when a load of wood was sent to lier, he felt liimseli 
too much of a g:entleman to saw it, thonoh his wife was 
•.shivering ^^^th cold. T\m deseend-ants of Mrs. Wheatley 
•did what they eould to relieve her wants, after the-y dis- 
-eovei-ed lier extremely destitute eoiidition ; but, fortnirately 
ior her. she soon went " whei-e the wicked cease from 
troul)ling;, and where the weary fire at rest.''' 

Hei- husband was so gi-eatlydishlved, that people never 
•called her Mrs. Peters, She was always called Philli-H 
"WheatleN", tlie nanre bestowed upon her when she first et> 
tered the service of her benefactj-ess, <'i.ud by whjch ^be Iki"] 
feecoane known as a poetess. 



THE WORKS OF PROVIl)RN('FI 

BY PHII.I.IS WHEATlvEY, 

Arise., my scml ! on win^s fiiTaptured rise, 
To praise the Monarch of the earth and slies. 
Whose goodnesB and beneficence appear. 
As round its centre moves the rolling year; 
Or when the morning glows with rosy charm.*?. 
Or the sun slumbers in the ocean's arms. 
Of light divine he a rich portion lent. 
To guidv^ my soul and favor my intent, 
Olestial Muse, my arduous flight sustain. 
And rai«e my mind to a sei-aphic strain ! 

Adored forever be the God unseen, 

AVho round the sun revolves this vast machine ; 

Though to his eye its mass a point appeai-s : 

Adored the God that whirls surrounding sphere}*, 

AVho first ordained that mighty Sol should reign. 

The peerless monarch of th' ethereal train. 

Of miles twice forty millions is his height. 

And yet his radiance dazzles mortal sight. 

So far beneath. — from him th' extended earth 

A'^igor derives, and every flowery birth. 

A'ast through her orb she moves, with easy grace 



TO Negko Stars in ali. Ages of the World. 

Around her Phoebus in unbounded space ; 

True to her course, the impetuous storm derides, 

Triumphant o'er the winds and surj;in{? tides. 

-Almighty ! in these wondrous works of thine, 

What power, what wisdom, and what jE^oodness shine ! 

And are thy wonders, Lord, by men explored, 

And yet creating Klory unadorned ? 

Creation smiles in various beauty gay, 
While day to night, and night succeeds to day, 
That wisdom which attends Jehovah's ways. 
Shines most conspicuous in the solar rays. 
Without them, destitute of heat and light, 
This world would be the reign of endless night. 
In their excess, how would our race complain, 
.\bhoring life ! how hate its lengthened chain ! 
F'rom air, or dust, what numerous ills would rise! 
What dire contagion taint the burning skies. 
What pestilential vapor, fraught with death, 
Would rise, and overspread the lands bene'ath ! 

Hail, smiling Morn, that, from the orient main 
Ascending, dost adorn the heavenly plain ! 
So rich, so various are thy beauteous dyes, 
That spread through all the circuit of the skies, 
That, full of thee, my soul in rai)ture soars. 
And thy great God, the cause of all. adores ! 
O'er beings infinite his love extends, 
His wisdom rules them, and his power defends. 
When tasks diurnal tire the human frame. 
The spirits faint, and dim the vital flame, 
Then, too, that evor-active bounty shines, 
Which not infinity of space confines. 
The sable veil, that Night in silence draws. 
Conceals effects, but shows th' Almighty Cause. 
Night seals in sleep the wide creation fair. 
And all is peaceful, but the brow of care. > 
Again gay Phoebus, as the day before. 
Wakes every eye but what shall wake no more ; 
.\gain the face of Nature is ren<'wed. 
Which still appears harmonious, fair, and good. 
May grateful strains salute the smiling morn. 
Before its beams the eastern hills ad<^rns ! 



Negho Stars in all Ages of the World. 



THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 

BY FRANCES E. W. HARPER. 

The silver cord was loosened. 
We knew that she n)ust die ; 

We read Ihe mournful token, 
In the dimness of her eye. 

Like a child oppressed with slumber 
She calmly sank to rest, 

With her trust in her Redeemer, 
And her head upon his breast. 

She faded from our vision. 

Like a thing of love and light : 

But we feel she lives forever, 
A spirit pure and bright. 



IT7jo whs George Moses Horton ? ^ 

Mr. James Horton, of Chatham county. North (,'aro- 
iina, had a slave named George, who early manifested re- 
markable intelligence. He labored with a few other slaves 
on his master's farm, and was always honest, faithful and 
industrious. He contrived to learn to read, and everv 
moment that was allowed him for his own he devoted to 
reading. He was especially fond of poetry, which he read 
and learned by heart, wherever he could find it. Aftei- 
a time, he began to compose verses of his own. He did 
not know how to write ; so when he had arranged hin 
thoughts in rhyme, he spoke them aloud to others, who 
wrote tliem down for him. 

He was not contented in slavery, as you will see by 
the following verses which he wrote : — 



o 



"Alas ! and am I born for this, 
To wear this slavish chain ? 

Deprived of all created bliss. 

Through hardship, toil, and i)ain ? 



T-i .\K(;K(') S'lAl.s rS AI,L A<SES OF THK Woiil'-P. 

• Mow loiij^- l)nvc I in liondairf lain. 

And lanj;uisliif«l tw- be free ! 
Alas ! aiwl must I still coiniMain, 

Deprived (vf lilKM-ty ? 

"() Heaveix ! and' is tliei-e uo n-lief 

This sidie the silent gi"iv<', 
Tt> sootlu' the pain, to (lueli the i;rli(' 

And aBftui.sh of a slave ? 

"Come, Liberty ! thou cheeiful sound- 
Roll through niy ravished eai-s : 

Vonie, let my grief in Joys be drowned. 
And drive away my fears. 

"Say unto foul ♦ i)presHion. Tease [. 

Ye tyrants, va^e no nioi-e ; 
And let the joyful trump of j^eaee 

Now bid the vasisal soar. 

"U Liberty ! thou goilden iirize. 

So often sought by blood. 
We erave thj' sacred sun to rise. 

The gift of Nature's (lod. 

'■ Hid Slavery hide her hag;ftard face. 

And barbarism tly ; 
1 seorn to see the sad disgrace. 

In which enslaved I lie. 

"Dear Liberty ! upon thy brt-ast 

I languish to lespire ; 
And. like the swan unto her iiesl, 

I'd to thy smiles retire." 

George's poems attracted attention, and several were 
[mblished in the newspaper called "The Raleigh Register." 
Some of them found their way into the R)Oston newspa- 
j>ers, and were thought i-emarkable productions for a 
/slave- His master took no interest in any of his poems, 
and knew nothing about them, except what he heard 
others say. Dr. Caldwell, who was then President of the 
University of North Carolina, and several other gentlemen. 
Ivecame interested for him, and tried to help him to obtain 



Nic(jUO Staks in Aj.i, AGl-;^ or the Woin:!). To 



hi.s freedom. In 1829 a little \ oiu . e of his ])()eins, called 
•The Hope of Libei'ty," was j>vi' >pd in Raleigh, by Gales 
^^and Son. The pamphlet was sold to raise money euough 
*~-f<^)r (jeorge to buy himself. He was then thii'ty-two years 
old, in the prime of his strength, both in mind and body. 
He was to be sent off to Liberia as soon as he was pur- 
ehrised; bnt he had such a passion for Liberty, that he 
was willing to follow her to the ends of theearth; though 
he would doubtless have preferred to have been afree maji 
at home, among old friends and familiar scenes. He was 
greatly excited about his prospects, and eagerly set about 
learning to write. When he first heard the news that in- 
fluential gentlemen were exerting themselves in his behalf, 
he wrote : — 

'■ 'T was like the salutation of the dove, 
B()riie on the zephyr through some lonesme grove, 
When spring returns, and winter's chill is past. 
And vegetation smiles above the blast. 

"The silent harp, which on the osiers hung. 
Again was tuned, and manuuiission sung : 
Away by hope the clouds of fear were driven, 
And music breathed my gratitude to Heaven." 

It wf)uld have been better for him if his hopes had not 
been so highly excited. His poems did not sell for enough 
to rai^je the sum his master demanded for him, and his 
friends were not sufficiently benevolent to make up the de- 
ficiency. In 1837, when he was forty years old, he was 
still working as a slave at Chapel Hill, the seat of the Uni- 
versity of North Carolina. It was said at that time that 
he had ceased to write poetry. I suppose the poor fellow- 
was discouraged. If he is still ali^ e, he is seventy-five 
years old; and I hope it will comfort his poor, bruised 
heart to know that some of his verses are preserved, and 
j)ublished for the benefit of those who have been his com- 



/ 



74 SvAUui Staks .1, Ages of thk Wori./). 



panioiis ill Slavery, and who, more fortunate than he was, 
have become free men before th( 
—From The Freoclman's Book, 



have become free men before their strength has left them. 



UNrvimSITY OF NOKTH CAROLINA, 

Chapel Hill, N. C, April 7lh, 188K. 
Mr. W. H. Quick, Dear Sir:— 

1 send you the number of the back Magazine asked for 
hy yon. I saw a letter from Mr. Collier Cobb to the Cliron- 
icle from Cambridge, Mass., reviewingthe work of Horton. 
} think you may get a copy from the editor, unfortunately 
we have no copy of the book. 

I remember Horton. He used to write acrostics for the 
students at twenty-five cents each. He was a rather small 
man, nearly black— no while blood in him— inclined to 
whiskey-drinking, very polite and respected by all, except 
as to his inclination to strong drink. He was allowed by 
his master to "have his own time," as it was called, i.e. he 
paid an annual sum to his master and was allowed the 
privileges of a free man. I i-egret much that I did not re- 
serve a copy oi his poems. 

Occasionally for one acrostic of special poems he would 
get fifty cents 

Yours truly. 

Kemp P. Battle. 



PRAISE OF CREATION. 

1»Y (iKORGIC HOriTON. 

Oeation firew in.v tonsiK- '■ 

N'citure. thy anthcriis t'aisc. 

And sprtNvd the utuv('rH:\l son^' 
Of thy Creator'^ praise. 



"SKiiiio Stabs in ali, .\.ir:s or the Woki.p. 



When each rovol \ iiig wheel 

Assumed its sphere sublime, 

Submissive Earth t'ner. heard the peal. 
And struck the march of time. 

The march in heaven beftim, 

And splendor filled the skies, 

When Wisdom bade the morning- sun 
With joy from chaos rise. 

The angels heard the tune 

Throughout creation ring : 

They seized their golden harps as sooiu 
And touched on every string. 

When time and space were youjng. 

And niu.sic rolled along. 
The moi-ning stars together sung. 

And heaven was drowned in song. 



THE COLORED MOTHER'S PRAYER. 

Great Father ! who created alL, 

The colored and the fair, 
O listen to a mother's call ; 

Hear thou the negm's prayer ! 

Yet once again thy people teach, 

With lessons from above. 
That they may practice what they preach. 

And all their neighbors lov«. 

Again the Gospel precepts give ; 

Teach them this rule to know,— 
Such treatment as ye should receive, 
Be willing to bestow. 

Then my poor child, my darling one. 

Will never feel the smart 
Of their unjust and cruel scorn, 

That withers all the heart. 

Great Father ! who created all, 

The colored and the fair, 
O listen to a mother's call, 

Hear Thon the negro 'sprayei- 



N'kgiuj Si'Aits i\ I ; .i.(ii;s of tiik Would. 



Wlmf can' we say of Willi ; ' its tin? 

Mr. William Costiu inv \v-as twenty-four years porter 
of a bank in Washing-ton, D. C. Many millions of dollars 
passed throu^-h his hands, hut not a cent was ever miss- 
inj*-, throuj^h fraud or carelessness. In his daily life he set 
an example of purity and benevolence. He adopted four ^ 
orphan children into his family, and treated them with the 
kindness of a father. His character inspired iijeneral re- 
spect; and when he died, in 1842, the newspapers of the 
citv made honorable mention of him. The directors of the 
hank j)assed a resolution expressive of their high appreci- 
ation of his services, and his coffin was foliowed to the 
grave by a very large pi-ocession of citizens of all classes 
and complexions. Not long after, when Honorable John 
Quincey Adams was speaking in Congress on the subject 
of voting, he said : "The late William Costin, though he 
was not white, was as much respected as any man in the 
District; and the large concourse of citizens that attended 
his remains to the grave — as well white as black — was an 
evidence of the manner in which he was estimated by the 
citizens of Washington. Now, why should such a man 
as that be excluded from the elective franchise, when jon 
admit the vilest individuals of the white race to exercise 
it. — "From FreedmeTis Book.'' 

Upon the force of character and sterling worth, estab- 
lished by Mr. C. and others of like susceptibilities, hun- 
dreds of colored men have engaged the confidence of states- 
men and have been appointed to as many places in the 
Treasury and other departments under the United States 
Government. 

Strain every nerve, wrestle with every power God and 

nature have put into your hauls, for your y)lace among 

the races. of this Western world.— Wendell Philips. 



NRaiio Stak.^ in ai.i. /p the Woui.I). Ti 



Who wasjRwes Forten, of riiil;(,i> tplnn, Peiiii? 

He was a soldier in the' Revolutionary strno-^le (be- 
in^- at the time of enlistinu- only fourteen (I-1-) years oi 
age) and a mechanic of the rarest skill. He was horn 
1766 and at fourteen entere<] into the service of the Colo- 
nial Navy, in the ship Royal Lewis, commanded by Cap- 
tain Decatur, father of the celebrated Commodore. After 
the close of the war he joined the march of peace, whereby 
dint of intelligence, honest and industry he soon established 
a o-ood character in business and private life. He invented 
an improvement in the management of sails, for which he 
obtained a patent. .As it came in general use, it brought 
him a good deal of money. In process of time he V)ecame 
owner of a sail loft, and also of a good house in theeitv- 
He married a worthy woman, and they brought up a 
family of eight children. But though he had served his coun- 
try in its first and gi-eat struggle for independence, though 
he had earned a hundred thousand dollars bv his inirenuitv 
and dilligence and though his character had rendei-ed him 
an ornament to the Episcopal church, to which he be- 
longed, yet so strong was the niean and cruel ])reiudice 
against his color, that his family wei-e excluded from the 
schools, even, where the most ignorant and vicious could 
place their children. He cn-ercame this obstacle, at great 
expense, by hiring jjrivate teachers in various branches of 
education- 
He died in 1842, at the ag-e of seventy-six. His funeral 
procession was one of the largest ever seen in Philadelpiiia; 
thousands of people, of all classes and all complexions, 
having united in this tribute of respect to his character. 

Who was Igmithis Snncho ? 

He was an English gentleman of the highest character. 
His mother an<l father were pure bhxxled Africans of the 



7A NK'.KO 8T.\K^ in . , xCKS OF TlIK ^^■()UI-I». 



oriiiituil stock. His parents were captured in 1729 by a 
company of the numerous man-stealers who frequenter] 
the Western coast of Africa, and phiced aboard a slave 
ship. Ignatius Sanch^ n-as born during their passage 
from Africa to America. . His poor, feeble exasperated 
mother died in the deck amidst the ocean's stoi-m. Thei-e- 
fore, the life of ambitious Sancho was eventful and no less 
instructive. His father whose noble asj)erations for per- 
sonal and political freedom such as he and his people had 
enioyed for six hundred centuries ushered upon his mind 
and character and its power was more than a match for 
human endurance; he plunged beneath the surging bil- 
lows of the sea rather than suffer the consequences of 
slavery. Thus died young tSancho's father. In this wild 
\Taste of bondage and mental darkness and political op- 
pression dear little Sancho cried and crawled about for 
help in a. strange land— he had no parents— and only 
slavery and a master as a legacy— I cannot say, he had no 
friends, for little children— sweet innocents, always have 
friends. As he grew^ uj) to the estate of boyhood he gave 
evidence of an inquisitive and brilliant intellect. This love 
for learning he successfully retained and was such a dili- 
gent reader that he was well acquainted with the current 
literature of his time. He was regarded as a man of the 
highest intellectual discernment coupled with the purest 
moral worth. He had such lively manners and uttered 
so many pleasant jokes that his company was much 
sought for. 

He enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the best 

English blood. 

A faithful and effectionate husband, wdio honored his 
"•ood wife for her noble-minded, womanlv character. With 
him as .vith Bnlwer : "To a gentleman, every woman 
is a ladv in riglit of her sex." On one occasion writ- 



NKi;;t!) Srvu-! i\ .vi,, Aijts or thk \V<)Ui,I). 7!) 



iiig- a friend, Kpeakiiig- of his (Saincho's) wife, h > said : " f 
a sigh escapes me, it is iuiswerod bv a tear in her eye. I 
often assnnie gayety to illnnie her dear sensibility with a 
smile, which twenty years ago almost bewitched me and 
which still constitutes my highest pleasure. May such be 
your lot, my friend. Wliat more can friendship wish you 
than to glide down the stream of time with a ])artner of 
of congenial principles and fine feelings, whose very looks 
speak tenderness and sentiment.*' 

His children appear to have been the chief delight of 
his great heart. He called them "Sanchonettas,*' the 
Italian word for little Sanohos. He managed to ijCipiire 
his freedom by the power of his massive intellect and by 
the same influence he endeavored to move heaven and 
earth to effect the emancipation of his i-ace in all the y)rov- 
inces of the British Em[)ire. His good wife, who was hip 
Sunday — not his repose only, but his joy, the salt of hi>*i 
eventful life, stood by his bedside, daring his illness, and 
watched and served him as a guardian angel until he was 
beyond her helping hand and his glorious spirit ''shouted 
the harvest over" and entered "the rest of the final faith- 
ful." He was both author and merchant. His writings 
were verj' popular with the public. He wrote many mag- 
azine articles for the publishing companies and newspaper 
editors. After his untimely death, which occurred at thf 
age of tifty-two, were all reproduced in a little volume 
with an engraved likeness of him. 

What vail you say of the Honorable Joseph H, Rainey, ofGeorjiv- 
town, S. ( .? 

He was born at Georgetown, South Carolina, (wheire 
both his ])arents were slaves, but by their industry ob- 
tained their freedom,) June 21, 1(S82. Although debarred 
by law from attending school, he acquired a )^ood educa- 
tion, and further im{)roved his mind by (observation ant 



so >sF(.i.(i >'i'Ar.s iN .* :. A(;ks of tuf. "\\'()Kr,p. 



1 r;i vel. His fntlicr wns a, V-arbei, and he followed that ot - 
cni)atioii at Charleytoi] till 1862, when, having been foived 
to work on the fortitit Jitions of the Confederates, he es- 
cape to the West Indies, where he remained until the close- 
of the wai-, when he returned to his native town. Hewaw 
elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Conventif)n 
of 1(S6S, and was a member of the State Senate of South 
Carolina in 1S70. icsioning when elected to the Forty- 
fiist Congress as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused 
by the non-reception of B. F. Whittemore; was elected to 
the Forty-second Congress, and was re-elected to the 
Forty-third Congress as a Kepublican, re<-eiving 19,765 
votes being all that were cast. He represented the First 
District of his State. He ran for Congress in 1876, but 
was defeated as was the entire Republican ticket, vState 
and nation. He died in Georgetownin the springof 1888. 
What iihont ilie Honorable Richard H. Cain, of Columbia, S. C? 

Richai-d H. Cain, of Columbia, was born in Greenbriar 
County, Virginia, April 12, 1825; his father removed to 
Ohio in 1 SSI, and settled in Gallipolis; he had no educa- 
tion, exce])t such as was afforded in Sabbath school, until 
after his man-iage; entered the ministry at an early age: 
])ecame a student at Wilbei force University, at Xenia, 
Ohio, in 1860, and remained tl.ere for one yeai-; removed 
at the breaking out of the war to Brooklyn, New York, 
where lie discharged ministerial duties as a pastor for four 
years; was sent by his chuich as a missionary to the 
freedmen in South Carolina; was chosen a membei- to the 
constitutional convention of South Carolina; was elected 
a member of tlie State Senate from Chai-leston, and served 
two years; has editeil a republican newspaper since 1868; 
and was elected to the Forty-third Congress as a Republi- 
can, receiving 66,825 votes against 26, '594 votes for Lewis 
Iv .loh.nson. 



Ne(jho Stakss in am. Agi:8 of thk Would. 81 

He represented his State at large in the Foi-ty-tliird 
Cong'i-ess. After tlie defeat of his j)arty he returned to the 
ministry and was elected Bishop by the General Confei-- 
ence of the A. M. E. church 

Who is Ehenezer D. Bassett? 

He was a minister Resident and Consul General to Hayti; 
appointed by President Grant in 1870. 

Who was Alonzo J. Ransier, of Charleston, S. C. ? 

He was one of the colored members of Congress dur- 
ring the days of Re[)ublican power — was a modest' and 
honest man — a safe and intelligent leader of the people — 
an earnest, faithful representative of his constituency. 
Representing the 2d District. He was born at Charleston. 
South Carolina, in January, 1834; was self-educated; way 
employed as shipping clerk in 1850 by a leading merchant, 
who was tried for violation of law in "hiring a colored 
clerk," and fined one cent with costs; was one of the fore- 
most in the work of reconstruction in 1865; was a mem- 
ber of a convention of the friends of equal rights in Oc- 
tober, 1865, at Charleston, and was deputed to present 
the memorial there framed to Congres; was elected a mem- 
ber of the State (Constitutional Convention of 1868; wa8 
elected a member of the House of Representatives in the 
State Legislature in 1868-'69; was chosen Chairman of 
the State Republican Central Committee, which position 
he held until 1872; was elected a Presidential Elector on 
the Grant and Colfax ticket in 1868; was elected Lieuten- 
ant Governor of South Carolina in 1870 by a large ma- 
jority; was President of the Southern States Convention 
which nominated Grant and Wilson in 1872; and wa«* 
elected to the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, re- 
ceiving 20,061 votes against 6,549 votes for W. Gurney. 
Independent Republican. He died in the winter of 1887— '8 



.S2 Negrci Staks is axa. Auek of the Worm). 

in liis native city, ripe in years and full of honorsbeloved — 

by all who knew him. 

Who is Hon. James T. Rapier, of Montg-omery, Alabama ? 

He was, in 1874, a member of the Forty -third Congress, 
representing- the Second District of his native State. He 
was born in Florence, Alabamn, in 1840; was educated 
in Canada; is a planter; w.as appointed a notary republic 
by the Governor of Alabama in 1866 ; was a member of 
the fij-st Republican Convention held in Alabama, and was 
one of the committee that framed the platform of the 
party ; represented Lauderdale County in the Constitu- 
tional Cpnventifm held at Montgomery in 1 86" ; was nomi- 
nated forSecretary ofStatein 1870, but wasdefeated with 
the rest of the ticket; was appointed assessor of internal 
revenue for tne second collection district of Alabama in 
1871 ; was a])pointed State Commissioner to the Vienna 
Exposition in 1873 by the Governor of Alabama, and ^a as 
elected to the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, re- 
ceiving 19,100 votes against 16,000 votes forC.W. Gates, 
Democrat, 

WIio is John R. Lynch, of Natchez, Mississippi ? 

He w^as also a member of the Forty -third Congress, 
and was re-elected to the Forty-eighth Congress, but lost 
his seat by Democratic fraud— representing the Sixth Dis- 
trict. He was born in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, Sep- 
tember 10, 1847, a slave, and he remained in slavery un- 
til emancipated by the results of the rebellion, receiving no 
early education ; a purchase of his mothercarried her with 
her children to Natchez, where, and when the Union troops 
took possession, he attended evening school for a few- 
months, and he has since, by private study, acquired a 
good English education ; he engaged in the business of 
photogra])hy at Natchez until 1860, when (jovernf)i- 



NlC^iKO ^TAIAS l^• Al 1, ArJES OF THE "WOKI.D, 80 



Ames appoieted liiiii a jusiice of the iieace: he was elected 
^1 member of the St^tc Le^islatui-e fi-om Adams County, 
and re-elected in 1S71. serving- the last term as Speaker of 
the House: and was elec^ted to tll>e Foi-tv-third ConiiTess 
as a Republican, re(oi\iii«:' IfySDl' vc)tes against 8,430 
votes for H. Cassa.dv, sen.. Democrat, 

Mr. Lynch was made Presid^ntof the National Confer- 
ence of colored men of the United States, held in Nashville, 
Tennessee, Mav the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, 1879. Was 
also nominated and elected temporary ])resident of the 
National Republican Convention held in Chicago, June. 
1884, which nominated James G. Blaine for President. 
Was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at 
the same place in 1888 which nominated General Benja- 
min Harrison for President of the United States. He is a 
man of high character and enjoys considerable of the 
world's goods. He enjoys the reputation of being an ex- 
cellent presiding officer. As a speaker he ranks high 
among the foremost orators of the country. 
Who is J. Milton Turner, of Alahnma? 

He is a practicing lawyer in the town of Alabama. 

Was a])pointed in 1870, by President Hayes, as Ministei- 
Fesident and Consul-General to Liberia, Afi-ica. His life, 
character, jm})lic services, scholarly attainments, moral 
attributes and industrial talent, stand out alto-relieve 
indicating Negro capacity under the influences of oppor- 
tunity, training, development and intelligence. 

Who was Professor William Chavis? 

He was a classical scholar and the Christian gentleman, 
who taught a school foi- white boys in Chatham county, 
.North Carolina, in 1822. Among his j)U])ils who subse- 
quently became eminent statesmen were Kenneth Raynor, 
who represented the Raleigi) Distiict in Congress before 



84 Nkgiu) Staus IX am. Ages of the World. 



the war. After the war he became n Republican and was 
Solicitor General of the United States Treasury when he 
died. Honorable Abraham liencher, adistingtished North 
•Carolinian who was. also a pupil of Prof. C. He was at 
one time Governor of Arizona, appointed by President 
Pierce in 1852. Honorable Jacob Thompson, of Chatham 
county. North Carolina, was born 1?>10. He graduated 
at Chai)el Hill (N. C.) University in 1831— studied law and 
was admiited to the bar in 1834. He, too, was a ])upil of 
Professor Chavis, and was classmate of Messrs. Raynor 
and Rencher. He early became a Mississippi i)ioneer and 
settled in Chichasaw county— was a member of (.'ongress 
in 1839-51. In this body he wa> chairman of the com- 
mittee on Indian Affairs. He was a zealous defender of 
of the rights, interests and i-eputation of his State— was a 
strong pai-tisan and worked indefatigably for the honor 
and success of the Democratic party— was appointed Sec- 
retary oi the Interior Department by President Buchanan 
in 1857; he held this office four years and resigned in 1861 
for reasons conrtected with re-enforcement of Fort Sum- 
ter. He Nvas one of the commissioners fi-om Mississippi to 
North Carolina to urge her to adopt the ordinance of se- 
session. He afterwards bee am e Governor of his State 
and aid to Beauregard. Professor Chavis was a native 
of one of the West India Islands and upon coming to the 
United States he applied for and obtained a certificate of 
his naturalization, thereby become a citizen of this coun- 
try. It is V)ut reasonable to j)resume that Prof. C. im- 
planted within the mind and character of these white 
youths the seed of glory and fame. 

Who was Robert Peel Brooks? 

The subject of this sketch was born 1857 in the city 
<of Richmond, Virginia. He received an academic educa- 



XK(5it(4 Stars in aj.i. Agks of the Woki.t). "So 



tion in tlie city schools, and Rubstxiuently entei-ed the col- 
iejie and hiw departnieuts in the Howard University, 
Washino-ton, D. C, where hegraduated from both depart- 
ments with lijgh honors, *tthe Richmond Imr he won 
quite a distinction for legal ability and purity of charac- 
ter- For some years he edited a weekly newspaper kiiowii 
as the Virginia Sfnr. He was a brilliant orator as wella« 
a trenchent writer. 

He died at his home in the month of Februarv, 1885, 
at the earlv age of 28, 

The reader may dmw a fitting estimate of the ad- 
mirable qualities of young Rolx'rt upon a cai^ful perusal 
of the following lines, which appeaix^d in the columns of 
the Progressive Awerinan soon after the death of Mr, 
R, Brooks, the father of young Robert Peel Rrooks: 

'' We can but regard as fallacious the common idea of 
what constitutes greatness in men. Mighty achievements 
and brilliant deeds of themselves are no evidence of sup(^ 
rior greatness. Deeds and surroundings must be consid- 
ered together before there can bea C()mputation of a man's 
great qualities, 

Southey said there are more poets who never vsang 
than there are who have; so we believe that there are 
more great men whom the world does not tcnow, than 
there are whom it dws, and Mr. Albert R. Brooks, who 
died recently in Richmond, Va., a sketch of whose life is 
published in the Virginia Star, was one of them. 

Mr. Brooks was born a slave in June, 1818. In his 
childhood he was sold, and with his second master he wa** 
connected till the close of the war. In 1827, Mr. Brooks, 
then nine yeai-s of age, commenced work in a tobacco fac- 
tory in Richmond. In 1836 ha became a member of the 
Baptist church. 

In 1838 he was married to a youngslave woman, whr. 



,S6 Negro Stars in ma. Agios of thk World. 



was owned by a planter other than his master, and be 
cause of this he was taken from his wife bv his master, 
and he so remained for ei.uht. years; at the expiration of 
that time he was again ahowed^to go.to Richmond. This 
time he was em])h\ved by. /a Mf. Eeeves, a Presbyterian 
church member. Mr. Brooks was coachman to Mr. 
Reeves for eight years. Dnring that time his employer. 
^vitll the consent of his master-, banked for him all the ex- 
tra money he made. It amounted to |1,0()0. Mr. Reeves 
died, and about this time one of Mr. Brooks' brothers was 
pkiced on the auction block, and his $1,000 went to pur- 
chase his freedom, wdiile he himself remained a slave. 

In 1852 he was permitted to hire his own time, and he 
sat up a grocery store and boarding honse- In 1858 he 
commenced the hack business; in the same year his wife's 
master died, and in the following year she ane her six 
children were sold. Mr. Brooks purchased his wife and 
his daughter. He made strenuous efforts to buy his eld- 
est daughter-, but he was unable. She was sold the second 
time, and soon died. His eldest son was, during the war, 
to be sold the second time, and his father bought him. 
His own freedom he did not enjoy until the close of the 
war. When the wife of his former mastsr died he was ap- 
plied to for assistance, and did furnish the means to bury 
her. Mr. R. P. B. was one of the most polished orators 
in the State of Virginia. 
Wno is Hon. Edward Jordan, ofJamiika? 

He is the most eminent politician of Jamaica and said 
to be the princi[)al mt-mber of Governor Dai-ling's Cabinet. 
He is also Mayor of the city of Kinston. 
Who M.j.s- the venerable Bishop Richard Allen?- 

He was the founder of the Afr-ican Methodist Episco- 
pal church of America. For- many years he was its fore- 
most minister and its first bishoj). 



Nkgko Stars i.v ai,l A(jrs ok thk VVoui.n. HI 



This reverend gentleman was born, a slave in Phila- 
delphia, on the 14th day of Febrnarv, 1760, sixteen years 
before the Declaration of American Independence. In his 
early childhood he was carried to the State of Delaware, 
where he wan held a slave nntil he reached his majority, or 
thereabout, when at the suggestion of his owner he bought 
himself, paying sixty pounds of gold and silver for his free- 
dom. After his conversion, he, with a number of others 
worshiped at the St. George's church, in Fourth street, 
Philadelphia. When the colored attendents began to get 
numerous some feelings of unchristian, jealous, race hostil- 
ity began to manifest itself in the conduct of the Avhite 
part of the congregation toward the colored brethren. 
Which spirit of hate grew to such proportions as to de- 
ny the colored members seats in the body of the church. 
Several of these members were actually assaulted by the 
white officers in the midst of the congregation, on the 
Sabbath, while all were engaged in the service of prayer. 
This led to the withdrawal of the colored members who 
went to wT>rk and built for themselves a church where free- 
dom should find a home and beneath wdiose fostering and 
protective care free principles should grow and expand in 
the full amplitude of their nature. Possessing solid, rather 
than brilliant and dazzling powers of mind, and hence 
properly classed among the thinkers of logical, mental 
bias Bishop Allen w^as, nevertheless, a. pulpit orator, 
whose stvle was marked bV a tender andlivelvsensibilitv. 
a vigorous and vivid imagination, a deep and moving 
])athos. 

The [lower of his elovuence was demonstrated in the 
effect produced uj)on tne multitudes moved and converted 
through his preaching before and after election to the 
bishopric. 

Some time during the year 17(S4 he i>reachcil for seve- 



88' NECFirO STAKH I.V all Ac/ICH 1>F' tifk WcnfLi>, 

ral weeks in Radnor. His congregation was composed 

mainlv of white persons; but few colored people lived in 

the neighboi-hood. In connection wit.i his labors here 

this beaiitifnl testimony is borne. Some said : "This tnau 

must be a man of God ; we never heard such preaching be- 
fore." 

He was strong in his earnest and abiding faith in his 
heavenly Fasther, upon whose ability and pnrpose to ful- 
fill his promises tO' be relied with the confidence of a child. 
A thorough and careful stu<ly of the chararter of Bishop 
Allen will convince us that he possessed all the qualities of 
mind which distinguished him for real greatness. He was- 
intelligent, docile, sagacious, judicious,, earnest, fearless, 
humane, patient, industrious, self-rehant and self-sacrific- 
ing, conscientious and just.'" 

The author is largely indebted to Honorable J. M, 
Langstone, LL. D. for this note on the career of Bishop 
Allen (see Prof. L's eulogy an the life of Bishop A. 

To his memorv was the first monument ever erected 
aver the dust of any colored man by the colored people in 
the United States, which stands out to-day an everlasting- 
beacon light to the honor, public and Christian services of 
one of the purest, best and noblest of our Redeemer's latter 
day Disciples. 

Who is Mrs. F, E. W. Harpei^ 

She is is a poetess of the purest gem, and of the most 
exquisite charm and elegance. She has written many 
poems that evinced rare genius. *' Poetr nascitur' noji 
l5t." applies with beautiful force to Mrs. Harper. 



Niocuo Stark in xia. Aoics of the Would. 



Si) 



PRF^IDENT LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPA 

TION, JANUARY 1, ISUS. 



aV frantks e. av. harper. 

It shall flush throuf^h coming- ages. 

It shaU lio-'it- the distant yeai-s ; 
And eyes now dim with sorrow 

Shall bo brighter through their tears. 
It shall flush the mountain ranges, 

And the valleys shall grow bright; 
It shall bathe the hills iu radiance. 

And crown their brows with light. 

It shall flood with golden splendor 

And the huts of Caroline; 
And the sun-kissed brow of labor 

With lustre new shall shine. 

It shall gild the gloomy prison, 

Darkened by the nation's crim'e. 
Wheu the dumb and patient milions 

Wait the better-coming time. 

By the light that gilds their prison 
They shall see its mouldering key : 

****** 

Though the morning seemed to poise. 

O'er the hill tops far away, 
Now the shadows bear the promise 

Of the quickly coming day. 

Soon the mists and murky shadows 

Shall be fringed with crimson light. 
Anil the glorious dawn of freedom 

Break refulgent on the sight. 

HVjo invf'ijted the first clock ever wade in this couutry? 

Bejaniin Banner, a colored man, who lived near Balti- 
more. Maryland. This was accomplished in 17G2. He 
was about 30 years old at the time of its construction. 



ry Nk'juo SrAirs i.v am. .V ::•:■: ok thi: Woui.ik 



It kept time exactly and people everywhere (3ir;cussecl th(^ 
matter as being a wonderful thing for a man to do with- 
ont previous instructions. 

liv whom was the first ulrnanac made in this country'/ 

Benjamin Banneker calculated and made the Hist al- 
manac ever made in this lountry. 

It contained much useful information of a. general 
nature, and interesting selections in y)rose and verse. 

His manners were those of a j)t^rfect gentleman. He 
was kind, generous, hospitiable, humane, dignified, and 
pleasing. He abounded in information on {dl the various 
subjects and incidents of the day; was very modest and 
unassuming, and delight in society at his a^'u house. Go 
there when you would, by day or night, thei-e was con-' 
stantly in the middle of the floor a large table covei'ed 
with books and papers. As he was an eminent mathema- 
tician, he was constantly in correspondence with other 
mathematicians in this country, with whom there was an 
interchange of questions of difficult solution. His head 
was covered with thick white hair, which gave liim a ven- 
erable appearance. His dress was uniforndy of superfine 
drab bi-oadcloth, made in the old style of a plain coat with 
straight colar, a long waistcoat, and a broad-brimmed 
hat. His color was not jet black, but decidedly negro. In 
size and person;d appearance he bore astrongresemblance 
to the stat'ie of Benjamin Franklin, at the libraiy in Phil- 
adelphia." 

The good which Banneker did to the cause of his c(d- 
ored brethren did not cease with his life. When the Abbe 
Gregorie pleaded for emancipation in France, and when 
Wilbei-force afterward labored for the same cause in Eng- 
land, the abilities and character of the black astronomer 
were bi-ought forward as an argument against the en- 



Xi:(.u() Staijs in ai.i, Acks of thk Woim.d. 91 



slavement of his race; and. from that day to this, the 
friends of freedom h ive quoted him everywhere as a proof 
of the mental capacity of Africans. 



T^E GREAT COLORED INVENTOR. 



BY REV. H. A. CKOMARTIK. A. M. 



Mr. George Morsel Williams, of Newark, Newcastle 
county, Del., has made seven original discoveries in me- 
chanical art. His first- invention was the corn-planter, 
with all necessary implements for opening the fnrrow> 
dropping the corn and fertilizer in the same hill, at inter- 
vals of three feet, and covering the same, leaving a beauti- 
ful elevation ; said planter is drawn be two horses. This 
wondeful discovery will save the labor of at least two 
men according to the old system of corn planting. 

The second invention was the drill-tube, for seeding 
machines. This is an admirable piece of mechanism for 
simplicity, durability and general efficiency, by the use oi 
which the seed can always be planted at an even depth. 
The (yjnstruction is of such a nature that clogging is im- 
possible. The drill tube contains the seed, and opens the 
furrow and makes a smooth surface, scattering the seed 
up it, and the returning surface covers them at an evet? 
depth. 

The third invention was a new and useful improve- 
ment in the manufacture of mover knives. This consists 
chiefly in giving them spiral shape. 

The fourth invention is in paul ratchet mechanism. 
This consists of a paul and ratchet mechanism in which the 



•>- Ni:(iRo Staks in ai.i. A<;ivs ok thi-: A\()1(i.I). 



mechanism when applied moves in reverse direction, or 
runs back, as a lawn mover, the panl being antomntically 
i-aised to prevent noise.. , 

The fifth invention in paul-and-ratchet mechanism was 
by means of a shaft which passes thi-ouf>;h a pinion and a 
circular ratchet box and firmly connected with the end of 
the shaft is a pin, whose ends pass freely through widened 
opening in the tooth portion of the paul ; servingto retain 
the paul on the shaft and to guide it in nuytion. 

The sixth invention was the lawn mower. It ccmsists 
of a cylinder or rotary ; it ha^ a grass gatherer and drop- 
per. Tiie driving wheels have an internal tooth, rim, which 
by means of paul-and-rachtet mechanism and gerring 
usual in lawn mover,imparts motion to thecylinderor rc- 
tnry cutter, and serves to render said cylinder inoperative 
when the mower is to run backward. Thei-e are always 
two knives in operation on the bed-knife; this makes rapid 
and thorough cutting of grass. It will cut long or shoi-t 
grass. The bars, which are elastic, are forced from the 
arm, so that they cTear the pin, after which they may be 
raised or lowered at will. The bars are sprung into en- 
gagement with the pin and the parts held firm. It -will 
cut high or low grass w ith the same ra|)idity.^ 

The seventh inventi(ui has an advantage over the 
other lawn mowers, chiefly in the adjustable ucd-knife, 
vertically adjusting the cutting mechanism, and the novel 
grass receiver; said receiver carries the gi-ass untilit has a 
siiificient (quantity and then dumps it wherever de.sired. 

We make no attempt here to to describe these valu- 
able additions to mechanical art, but simjjly to call atten- 
tion to them. These works have all been patented at a 
cost of four hundred dollars of the hai*d earnings of Mi-. 
Williams. They have been on exhibition at Franklin 
Novel Institute, Philadelphia, Pa., and at the Agricultural 



Nicdijo Stark in all A<;i:s of thk Wotm.t). 1)3 



Society Exhilntion in Biirliiifrtoii, N. J. At both of thosr 
places Mr. W'illiani8 took first premium on them in '85, 
Well flone for a colored man ; bnt he does not stop there; 
he has invented a bird trap. This is an iniienins contriv- 
ance; the bird lights n])on a ballance, it \vill ease him 
down and the bird is can<i,ht. 

These are only foi-ernnners of the inventive oenins an{3 
fertile brain of the sons of ebony hne. And let it be written 
upon the g-olden hills and sounded along the fiery shorej^ 
of caste, ostracism and oppression, that the despised and 
rejected sons and daughters of Afric's clime must wear the 
same inventive crown worn by discoverers and inventoir 
of other races. — In Christion Jlecord, Pottstown. Pa. 



COLORED INVENTORS. 

LIST OF rOLORD INVENTORS WHO SECURED PATENTS. 

The People's Advocate, Washington, D, C, has se- 
cured thi-ough Mr. Henry E. Baker, the following Ifst of 
colored inventors which is a feature of much interest just 
at this time. In a note Mr. Baker says of the difficultie,- 
of obtaining a complete list: ''The record.s of the Patent 
Office do not in any way indicate whether a y)atentee i*" 
white or cohered, and having had to secure these nara(\s 
through personal inquii-y mainly among the examiners In 
the office and attorneys who practice before it, the list In 
necessarily incomplete. Colored inventors have not al- 
ways been able to obtain a patent, inasmuch as the oath 
contains a clause reciting the citizenshij) of the applicant 
colored inventors in mi to heJIiun days were compelled to 
go through the form of assigning their inventions to their 
mastei-s, who afterwards secured patents for the inven- 
tions of their slaves, and reaped all the lienefits resultint: 



M4 N^EGRO StAKS in AI.l. AiiK.S OF THK WORI-D. 



from the manufacture and sale of such articles." 

Joseph Hawkins, West Windsoi-. N. J., March 6th. 
1845, Improved Gridiron. 

Wm. Murray, Alexandria, Va.. Fcl). 1. 1870. Corn- 
stalk Harvester. 

Horde Spears, Snow Hill, N. (\, Dec. 27, 1870, Shield 
for Infantry and Artillery men. 

T. J. Martin, Dowagiac, Mich., March 20, 1872, Fire 
Extinguisher. 

E.H. Sutton, Edenton, N. ('., April ^, 1874. ("otton 
Cultivator. 

David A. Fisher, Jr., Washington, D." C. April 20. 

1875, Joiner's Clamp. 

Alex. P. Ashbourne, Oakland, Cal., June 1, 1875. Pro- 
cess for preparing Cocoanut for Domestic Use. 

Henry M. Nash, Baltimore, Md., Oe+., 1875, Life Pre- 
serving Stool. 

David A. Fisher, Jr., Washington, D. C, Maivh 14, 

1876, Furniture Castor. 

Alex. P. Ashbourne, Oakland, Cal., August 21, 1875. 
Treating Cocoanut. 

Wm. A. Lavslette, Washington, D. C, Sept. 17, 1878, 
Printing Press. 

Joseph R. Winters, Chambersburg, P., April 8, 1879, 
Fire Escape Ladder. 

Wm. Bailiss, Princeton, N'. J., Aug. 6, 1879, Ladder 
.Scaffold Support, 

Alex. P. Ashbourna, Oakland, Cal., July 27, 1880, Re- 
fining Cocoanut. 

Traverse B. Pinn, Alexandria, Va., File Holder, Aug. 

17, 1880. 

Powell Johnson, Barton, Ala., Nov. 2, 1880, Eye 

Protector. 

James Wormley, Washington, D. C, May 24, 1881. 



NE(iRO STAIts^ IN ALI- AGES OF THK VVOKI^D. 9'v 



Life Saving Apparatus. 

R. W. Alexander, Galesbnrg, 111., April 18, 1882, Corn 
Planter Check Rower. 

H. H. Reynolds, Detroit, Mich., April 3, 1883, Window 
\'entilator for Railroad Cars. 

Jonas Cooper, Washing-ton. D. C. May 1. 1883, Shut- 
ter Fastener. 

Leonard C. Bailey, Washington. D. C. Sep. 1883, Com- 
bined Truss and Bandage. 

Luekrum Blue, Washington. D. C, May 20, 1884, 
Hand Corn Shelling Device. 

Who is the Honorable John Sincleur Leary, of Fayetteville, N. C? 

He is one of the leading- lawvers of the Fayetteville 
Bar— was born in 1843 in the city where he now resides.— 
His industry and energy enable him to live in comfortable 
circnmstances wdiile he continues to enjoy the confidence 
of the best people in his city and State. 

In the years 1885-'86 he was president of the State 
('olored Industrial Association, under his administration, 
by force of the happy faculty of grit and grace, this insti- 
tution has developed into one of the chief features of the 
commonwealth. The father of this subject was ever vigi- 
lant of the rights of his race and seized each opportunity 
lustly to improve the moral and political condition of 
his pe<j[)le. In 1841 when the defendant Manuel in the 
Stati vs. Manuel, 4 D. and B. Law Reports of North Car- 
olina, was denied certain rights belonging to him as a free 
person of color. Mr. Matthew Leary, referred toabove, 
engaged counsel to appear for him, to wit: Honorable 
Robert Strange (afterwards Judge). The able attorney 
was reipiested to exhaust the judiciary of the State if ne- 
cessai-y in the defence of his client, it was done, since the 
defendant was cast at nisi priiis, an appeal was taken to 



•JZ Nkgui) Staks i.\ all Agi:.-! or thk Woki.k. 



the Siipi-enie Court oi the State, where presided the dis- 
tin«2,-nished le^al trio, the Honorable Thomas Ruffin, Chief 
Justice, crowning- oenius with virtue and sterling- ahiHty— 
there sat the Honorable Williau) Gaston, Associate Jus- 
tice, master of a broad coni])rehensive mind, thoroug-hly 
traine(l in the unfathomable rich( s of legal lore, with these 
forensic giants were associated the elegant, acco:riplished 
Joseph J. Daniel, with a vigorous intellect rooted in a 
profound knowledge of law and human nature. Tiie ren- 
dition of the o])inion of this high tribunal devolved uj)on 
Judge Gaston. The (piestion of the rights of fi-ee colored 
persons at that time had not l)een adjudicated upon and 
was therefore unj)recedented by any court of (.-ompetent ju- 
risdiction in this country— the decision foi-sooth, inadver- 
tently and immediately became the lejuling— patern case — 
the great national controlling case. This gi-eat reform in 
thelaw governing colored p.oplewa& set in motion by the 
venerable father of Sohn S. Lear\ — Yonng J. S. L. was a 
saddler by trade before he chose the law. In 1874 he 
was elected to the General Assemble of his State by a very 
flattering majc^rity vote. He was married the first time 
in Raleigh, N. C, December the 9th, 18 '4 to Miss Alice B. 
Thomas— married a second time, after the death of his 
first espouse to Miss Namiie E. Latham, his present wife, 
atdiarlotte, N. C, July 14th, 1886. Both these lady 
companions were well educated, poSvSi-ssing culture and 
the most polite rednement. Emerson in one of his fiashes 
oi emotion and tenderness says: "A beautiful woman is a 
practical poet, taming her savage mate, planting love. 
hope and eloquence in all whom she ai)prf)aches." 

In 1881 Mr. L. was a|)pointed by President Garfield as 
Deputy Collector for the Third Disti-ict of North Carolina, 
which {)osition he held through the administration of 
President Arthur when he (President A.) was succeeded 



NK(}U() STAU.S IX AI-L AgRS ok THIC \V()KI,1). 07 

by President elect Cleveland ill 1885. In the summer of 
1888 he was invited and solicited to aceept the chair as 
Dean of the r>aw Departmentin Shaw University, Raleigh, 
North Carolina. g 

It affords the author pleasure to add by way of pa- 
renthesis that, in 1881, he read law with Mr. L. in his 
office at Fayetteville. Like the novi homines among the 
Romans, who were such persons as by their own personal 
merit, had raised themselves to curule dignitaries without 
the aid of family connections. It was at first addressed 
by Cataline to Cicero and intended as a reproach. But 
now in the light of a higher godly civilization 'tis a much 
coveted honor to be able to merit fame and fortune bv 
one's honorable efforts. Mr. Leary enjoys all the com- 
fort that can be obtained through prudence and integrity. 



{What is Sitkl of Professor Lungston below wns extracted, 
principally from Rev. Dr. Simmons Men of Mark.) 

HON. JOHN MERCER LANGSTON, A. B., A. M., LL. D. 

Lawyer — Minister Resident and Cousul-General — Charge de 
Affaires — President of the Virginia Normal Collegiate Institute 
— Formerly Dean and Professor of JLaw in Howard University. 

One of the greatest Negroes in America is the subject 
of this sketch. His name has become a household word, 
especially among the 3^bunger generation, and his deeds 
shine brio-htlv aloufi-side of those of even older men. Mv 
personal acquaintance with him dates from the time I was 
a student attending Howard University, in 1870, to the 
present day. I remember him well as a man who did not 
fear to speak his opmions. In those days there were many 
colored men who bowed and scraped to any kind of 
bloated, shoddv aristocracv. We all had faith in him, and 



98 ' N'EffllO STAie-S IV A I.I. AG ETS OF TlIK WoULXf. 

1 reiuember distinotlv that of all the six hundred studentt-- 
at that time, not one could have been found who believed 
Lang'stou thought himself less than the best citizen of the' 
eountry. At present, however, we have to deal with hi.-? 
distinct acts which, developed him into the great man wc 
now find him. 

He was born in Louisa comity, Virginia, December 14. 
1 29, and is, in blood, Indian, Negro and Anglo-Saxon. 
He has the f(n'titude of the first, the pi'i<le of the second 
and the progressivenef^s of the third. He was born in 
slavery and takes, since his father was his owner, the 
name of his mother's family, which was Indian and Negro 
mainly, and was closely related to the family of Pocahon- 
tas. In this he can make the boast that he belongs to the 
F. F. Vs. Emancipated when a mere child upon the death 
of his fat.ier, by his w'ill and testament he was sent to the- 
State of Ohio, where he grew to manhood, and was edu 
cated and pursued a professional and official life to the 
y^ir 1 ()7. 

In ] 4 he entered Oberlin College, located at Oberlin. 
Ohio, and graduated after five years regular collegiate 
study in 1849. He then sought admission to a law school 
conducted by Mr. J. W. FowIeratBallstonSpa, New York, 
but was refused admission on account of his color. He 
was advised to edge his way into the scIkkjI, claiming he 
was a Frenchman or Spaniard coming from the West In- 
dies, Central or South America, for he could pass for either, 
but his own manly nature scorned a trick even for suc- 
cess. He next tried to gain admission to a law school in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, conducted bv Judge Timothv Walker, 
but he was refused here too, with the kind assurance from 
the Judge that he being a young colored man could not 
find himself at home with white scholars. That man 
never made a greater mistake in his life. 



Ni:r,f{() Stars in am. A(n':s of tiik Wohi.u. 99 

He was forced to «eek a situation as a student in some 
Jawver's ofRee, and his success in this direction was poor 
«enou<rh, as few white lawyers in our country were ready 
in 1849 to take a Neoro law-student in their offices. Only 
the Hon. Sherlock J. Andrews, of Cleyeland, Ohio, wonld 
•consent to furnish Langston books with an occasional 
•opportunity fcjr explanation of law doctrines and princi- 
ples, so that no interference was made in ordinary office 
business. Of course there was little accomplished in this 
A\'ay, and the attemj)t under such cruel embarrassments 
•only seryed to discourage him, so he abandoned the study 
for a while, and entered the Theolg,oical Department of 
Oberlin (■olleji;e, from whieh he graduated in 1853. Then 
he entered upon the stud}^ of law under the tuition of Hon. 
Philemon Bliss, of Eljra, Ohio, at the time one of the first 
lawyers of the Oiiio bar, distinguished especially for his 
•excellent culture, and his anti-slayery sentiments and ut- 
terances, as well as his large and commanding influence in 
the community. About one year later Mr. Langston ap- 
peared by order of the court for examination, with refei-- 
ence to his admission to the bar, before a special commit- 
tee appointed by the court, composed of two Democrats 
and one Whig. The matter of admitting colored men to 
the bar was noyel. No one of this class up to that time 
had the termerity to offer himself as a candidate for such 
a.i honor. Mr. Langston was in the lead so far as the 
western part of the country was concerned, but his erudi- 
tion in law was so apparent, and his g-eneral knowledge, 
classic and scientific, so profound, that heat once won the 
favor of the committee; but here again was the ghost of 
color. '"Shall a Negro «)r mulatto be admitted to the Ohio 
bar?" "Can he be, legally?" At once the answer was 
made to these (piestions m the negative and in the judicial 
phrase with emphasis. The old Whig member of the com- 



100 Nkguo St^rs in all Ages of the Woiu.d. 

^ _„ 1 

•inittee, a man of generous and manly sentiment snggested 
to his colleagues and the court composed of five distin- 
guished lawyers, that it might be well in view of the late 
decision of the Supreme Coui-t of the State of Ohio to en- 
quire whether Langston was either a Negro or mulatto; 
"for," he urged, "Judge Bhss is taking care of his case:" 
whereupon the color of Langston was inquired into and 
when it had been decided that he had more white than 
Negro blood, as it was phrased, he was ordered to be 
sworn hy the court as a lawyer, October 24, 1854, ("on- 
stant and uninterrupted scholastic labors including eehool 
teaching during the winter season from 1844 to 1855, 
eleven consecutive years, had considerably disturbed Mr. 
Langston's health. At the suggestion of his fjhysician, 
he went, therefore, as soon as he was admitted to the bar. 
upon a farm in Brownhelm, Lorain county, Ohio. This 
was a rich, popular, intelligent and progressive community 
of white people in one of the best sections of the Western 
Reserve. He was the only colored person residing in that 
part of Ohio, but he no sooner purchased his farm and set- 
tled among these good people, than he was cordially wel- 
comed w^th opportunity for the employment of all the 
ability, legal and otherwise, which he possessed. One 
week, just after he had moved into this new home, a lead- 
ing Democrat lawyer of the community called upon him to 
assist in a trial of a very important case involving several 
questions of possession and occupancy of land, requiring 
consideration and verdict of a jury. Mr. Langston was, 
of course, delighted with such a call, and he hastened to 
accept it. It was well he did so, for no man ever gained 
a greater advantage and more various than that which 
came to him from the call of his friend, Mr. Hamilton Per- 
ry. For the first time, in the fall of 1854, on a beautiful 
Saturday afternoon, a colored lawyer appeared in an ini- 



.NT7GKO 'STAltS IN ALl. ACKS OF TH-K Woln.D. I'O'l 

•,[)ortriiit suit as the assistant of a white attorney. The 
■court, the witnesses, the lawyers, except Langston, were 
ill white. Such was the success of the colored lawyer in 
connection with this ease that he found himself at once 
surrounded by numerous clients with fatretainers. From 
that time he grew in business and influence rapidly and 
solidly. The spi'ing election in 1875 in the State of Ohio 
was signalized for the first time by the nomination and 
I'hoice to the clei-kship of one of the most advanced town- 
-;hips of the State, of i\ colored man, upon a total white 
vote. For the first time, too, in the history of our coun- 
try, n colored man had been elected to an office of respon- 
sibilities and emoluments upon a popular choice. The 
fortunate colored man w^as Lawyer Langston. He was 
immediately called in view therefore to take part as one of 
the orators of the May meeting of the Anierican Anti- 
.slavery Society, held in 1855 m New York City. 

The speech on that occasion was of such character in 
sentiment, delivery and effect as to secure its full report 
and publication in the daily papers of New York and the 
leading journals and periodicals of tne Anti-shn'ery so- 
cieties of the times. Those who heard the speech of the 
young orator never can forget how hivS first sentences 
were uttered. His words were these: 

A nation may lose its liberties and be a centuiy in finding- it out . 
Where is tiie American libert3'? ' *" 

Tn its far reach iniy!: and broad sweep, slavery has stricken down 
the freedom of us all ; 

And American slavery itself has gone glimmering: into the things 
that w^ere, 

A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hoin-. 

In his capacitjMis clerk in Brownhelm township, Mi-, 
Langston was given special o])])ortunities in coniurtioD 



102 >Jkgro Staks in all AciKS OF TiiK World. 



with his profession, but he was, by reason of his peeuHar 
relatioiis to the Board of Education of the township, given 
special duties as regarded its common schools. Indeed he 
was ex-officio school vnsitor. In' the fall of 1860, Mr. 
Langston was engaged in looking after the school inter- 
ests of the colored youth of Ohio, organizing schools 
among them and supplying teachers thereof, traversing 
the entire State from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. When 
the war came, Mr. Langston signalized his conduct by 
loval patriotic labors in favor maintaining the authority 
of the government, and although he did not go into the 
field as a soldier, he engaged actively in recruting troops 
and did more, perhaps than any other single man to re- 
cruit the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth regiments, to the lat- 
ter of which regiments he gave the (tolors. He also re- 
cruited Fifth regiment of colored troops of Ohio, to which 
also he gave*colors, and finally when he thought the col- 
ored American should be given the full recognition which 
he had won, as introduced to Secretary Stanton by Gene- 
ral James A. Garfield, he asked of that great war officer a 
commission as colonel, with permission to recruit and com- 
mand a colored regiment otticered by colored men who 
had already won distinction in the service. Suchproposi- 
tion vTas taken under discussion by the government, but 
it was not decided in time to give Mr. Langston his com- 
mission before the war closed.^ 

Moving to Oberlin in 1856, Mr. Langston was at once 
elected clerk of the township of Russia; next year a mem- 
ber of the council of the incorporated village of Oberlin for 
two years, and a member of the Board of Education in 
that village, successively for eleven years. In this time he 
became especially distinguished for his skill in examining 
witnessed and his eioquence and i)Ower in addressing- 
courts and juries. 



Nkuko Staus in all Ages of thk Wokld. 103 

Ml'. Liingston was an able, bold, determined advocate 
using tongue, pen, and all the force of his nature and 
learning in behalf of the enslaved and oppressed colored 
Americans, demanding for them freedom, legal rights, and 
<*ducational advantages. In 1867 Mr. Langston was in- 
vited by General 0. 0. Howard, through the influence of 
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Salmon P. 
Chase, to act as general inspector of the schools of the 
freed people of the country. It was in July of the same 
year that he made his first trip southward on the errand 
indicated. He went entirely through the State of Missis- 
sippi on his trip, visiting and speaking in every prominent 
place in the South. On his return he found President 
Johnson declaring at the White House and through the 
Journals of the countrv, that he intended to relieve Gen- 
eral Go 0. Howard of the coramissionership of the "Bu- 
reau of fi-eedom, Refugees and Abandoned Lands," to 
which he had been appointed by President Abraham 
Lincoln, and that he would appoint thereto Langston, 
if he would consent to take the place. Langston would 
not consent to such a change, claiming that General How- 
ard should be retained and supported in his position, 
going even so far as to tell General Howard all that the 
President held and said against him, and tendering his 
services in his support, to the extent of a call upon and an 
argument to General U.S.Grant in his behalf. He did 
call upon Genei-al Grant, then Secretary of War, whom he 
found altogether ready and willing to hear all that could 
be said in General Howard's favor. In his interview with 
General Grant, Mr. Langston became enamored of him 
and made bold to say to him that the advocacy of such 
sentiments as he had so clearly and eloquently expressed 
with regard to the reconstruction, the right**, the educa- 
t\<jn and the care of the newly emancipated classes, would 



lO-f Xe(;h() Staks IX all AfJE« of the World. 



nijike him the next President of the United States. Gen- 
eral Grant wms elected to the position. About this time 
President Johnson offered to Mi*. Langston the mission to 
Hayti. This he decHned, preferring to remain at home. 

This same year, 1867, he was admitted to pi-ai-tice in 
the Supreme Court of the United States, on the motion of 
Hon. James A. Garfiekl. He continued to act as general 
inspector of Freedmen's schools, ti-aveling throughout the 
South during the time, to 186t), when he was called to 
a ])rofessorship in the Law Depai-tment of Howard Uni- 
versity. He at once became Dean of that department, or- 
ganizing it, and for seven years he' was at the head of 
what was recognized as one of the finest law schools in 
the country, and graduating therefrom many of the first 
white and colored male and female students of the law 
that ever went from such an institution. It was from 
this school, while under his charge, that the first female 
of the law in the world, a young colored lady. Miss C. B. 
Ray, of New York, was awarded a diploma. During the 
last two yecirsthat Professor La ngston remained at How- 
ard University he was, by especial request, made vice- 
president and acting president of the institution. He filled 
this position with such marked efficiency and success, that 
at the close of his first year of such service the Board of 
Trustees of the university conferred upon him by special 
arrangement and in an e^special and ini])ressive manner, 
with addresses bv General Howard, the degree of LL. D. 
During this time he was appointed by President Grant a 
member of the Board of Health of the District of Colum- 
bia. For seven years he acted as attorney of the board 
and for one year as its secretary. As a sanitarist, he was 
able and efficient. 

In 1877 Mr. Langston was appointed by President 
Haves United States minister resident and consul-general 



Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. lOf) 

1 

to Hayti. In this position he served his country in an ac- 
ceptable and conscientious manner, as the records of tlie 
State department will show, from September 1, 1877, to 
July, 1885, aliuost eight years. As a diplomat he was an 
entire success, and the citizens always found him ready t(^ 
serve them, as well as the officers; and the people of the 
country, near whose government he resided, united in 
beai-ing testimony to the fact. Besides being the Dean of 
the Diplouiatic and Consular Corps, he was most of the 
time while in Hayti a personal and great favorite in gen- 
eral society. It was as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps 
that, during the yellow fever in the country when the 
very popular representative of the French government 
died of such disease, he pronounced the eulogy upon him 
at his tomb, in the French language, of such character and 
order of elegance and beauty that it found its way into 
the public journals of Pari-? and brought to him, through 
the French government, the acknowledgments of the 
family and friends of the deceased ambassador. In the 
government of San Domingo, was charge de affaires ol our 
government, and his relation with the officers of that gov- 
ernment, though many of the matters he had to deal with 
were like most of those in Hayti, difficult and trying, he 
won the warmest respect and consideration from all part- 
ies concerned. On the 30th of January, 1885, Mr. Langs- 
ton, of his own choice, resigned the position of United 
States Minister resident, to President Arthur, having re- 
solved on the expiration of his administration to return 
to this country and enter again upon the practice of his 
profession. After considerable delay, in July, 1885, he re- 
turned, and was at once employed by one of the first busi- 
ness houses of the country to attend to its interests in the 
West Indies. He made a single trip in such service, when, 
upon his return in the same year, he found that he had 



106 NECiRo Staijs IX AM. Ages ok the World. 

been elected by I lie Board of Education of Virginia, Presi' 
dent of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, 
which \V8S founded by the government in 1882, and sup- 
ported by popular appropriations of twenty thousand 
dollars annually. The faculty, as at present constituted, 
is composed of ten well educated, scholarly i)ersons, four 
ladies and six gentlemen. In addition to the ordinary de- 
partments and courses of study established and pursued 
in the institute, covering all the branches of the higher 
mathemati( s, ])hilosophicaI, scientific and classical studies, 
the law provides for and creates a summer school for the 
public school teachers, which was attended at the last 
session by over two hundred teachers. The estimate pat 
upon President Langston in his present position by the 
officials of the educational department of the government 
of Virginia, is discovered in the following words of the 
late superintendent of public instruction of Virginia, Hon. 
J. B Farr, in his annual report for 1885: 

After considering? the applications of all who presented their 
claims for the place, the board determined not to confine its se- 
lections to applicants, but to seek out a man that would add 
most dignity and weight to the position, and whether he had ap- 
plied or not to tender him the appointment. After taking into con- 
sideration theeducation, intelligence, honesty, energy and general 
ability, Hon. John Mercer Langston, ex-minister to Hayti, was 
considered pre-eminently fitted for the great work, and the Board 
of Education, November 19, 1885 unanimously elected him Presi- 
dent of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute. This was 
done without solicitation on the part of Professor Langstoh or 
his friends. Indeed he knew nothing of it until the official an- 
nouncement of the action taken by the board was made. This 
was one of the extremely ran» cases on record where th(> office 
sought the man, and we believe the iiuest was well rewarded. 
Fortunately for his race and State, he is a Virginian by birth, and 
he had patriotism enough to accept the honor and assume the 
i-esponsibilities of building up an institution w^ich has in its com- 
pass the grandest possibilities, and which reaches a wide and un- 
tilled field of usefulness. President Langston's reputation is na- 



Ne(jiu) Stars in aix Agi^s of thr Would. 107 

tional, anfl he not only enjoys the highest esteem and confidence 
of his own ])eoi)](', bnt by his education and ability commands 
respect of all with whom he is thrown in contact. 

The following;- resolutioi « .show how the president is 
appreciated by those over whom he presides: At the close 
of his u -!ual Thursday lecture, on the20th of January, 1887, 
Professor D. B. Williams, on behalf of the faculty of the 
institute and its two hundred studeuts, presented the fol- 
lowing preaujble and resolutions: 

Whereas, The Hon. J. M. Langston, LL. D., did at a very 
critical period in the h'story of the institute, accept the presi- 
<lency unanimously tendered him without his solicitation by the 
Honorable Board of Education at much personal pecuniary sac- 
rifice, and 

Wherkas, He has succeeded so well not only in placing it 
upon a solid foundation, but is rapidly making it one of the lead- 
ing institutions of the country ; therefore be it 

Resolved, first : That we regard our president as being fully 
equipped for the great work in which he is now engaged, in 
everything that pertains to intellectual ability, high moral pur- 
po.se and religious culture. 

Resolved, That his coming into Virginia as an educator has 
proved a great blessing to the people of the conimonwealth and 
is indicative of great future results for good. 

Resolved, That in these resolutions we voice the sentiment 
of the people of the State by asserting that his administration of 
its affairs has been entirely successful, and has caused the sons 
and daughters of Virginia to turn their faces toward this foun- 
tain of learning. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be handsomely 
engrossed by the committee and presented to the president. 

He is amongst the most scholarly, refined and ac-, 
complished gentlemen of the race. Surrounded as he is by 
wealth, and even luxury, he is a good parent, and owes 
much to his charming wife, who has been a great help to 
him in reaching this eminence. Rhe has made his home 
pleasant and entertained his guests well, all of which goes 
a great distance towards a man's promotion. He has 



108 Negro Staks in all Ages of the World. 



iiianv testimonials of all kinds, that show his standing- 
among men and testify to the worth of his character. 
What a beautiful picture is the engrossed i-esoluti(3n of the 
Board of Health of the District of (,'olunibia, awarded 
President Langston as he took his leave of it in lcS77, as 
the same hangs upon the wall of the broad and magnifi- 
cent passage of his residence, and his certificate of life-long 
membership of a fellow of the great English philos'.iphical 
association, the Victoria Institute, composed of the dis- 
tinguished scholars and thinkers of the world. Tiien still 
how beautiful and interesting to witness the fact that a 
great library, law, scientific, literary, commercial, indus- 
trial, in the French, Spanish, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and 
Enghsh languages, gathered by him during the "thirty-five 
years of his student life, occupying cases located in every 
part of his house, inside and outside the Hbrary room 
proper— every available nook and corner thereof. 

It seems only a question of time, when Mr. Langston 
will be made member of Congress from Virginia, and may 
it be so. He would be heard from on the most important 
questions of the day, nor would the matters pertaining to 
the race be neglected. 

Let me close with the opinion of the Montgomery, 
(Alabama) Herald, concerning President Langston : 

It is impossible for the Fourth Virginia Congressional Dis- 
trict to elect a man that would reflect more credit upon his con- 
stituents and race, or American statemanship, than Mr. Langs- 
ton. Ho is undoubtedly the highest type of Africo-American 
citizenship, All through his long, eventful, venturous course, 
leaping with giant-like strides, from thevalley of obscurity to the 
summit of human grandeur and manly excellence, not one act t)f 
his hAs tended to reflect dishonor upon himself, his people, or his 
country. 

At the Republican Congressional Convention held in 
the Petersburg District, Virginia, in the summer of 1888, 



'NEtJKO Staks iisr ai;i. Aii'Es (if the Woklt). TO?) 



Pr'ofessor L. was (Inly nominated for to rejjrescnt that 
•District in tlio 51st (1on<j:,Tess of the United States. At the 
subsequent election he was elected bj a Hatterinfiniajority. 
It is to be hoped that liis life may be spared by the All. 
wise and ininmtable God, to ronnd np a life's drama in 
the glorious service of his God and country. 

William Patrick Mabson, of Tarboro, N. ('., was born 
November 15, 1845, in the city of Wibnington, Nortli Car- 
olina. Although his mother, Eliza Mabson, was a slave, 
:and his master-father, Geo. W. Mabson, a white g-entle- 
maii of means and influence of the last above mentioned, 
whatever advantage could be derived from hereditory 
gifts and educational attainments fell to young Williams' 
lot. Grave and studius as he was in youth there was no 
school in the city, nor in the Southland, open to the col- 
ored bo}' or girl, yet at the age of twenty, when the fall 
of Fort Fisher made it possible, he entered the Lincoln 
Univei-sity, Oxford, Chester county, Penn., which was the 
leadings if not the only institution of like character and 
facilities open to "God's image cut ebbon." In this in.sti- 
tution he remained three years, graduating with high 
honor. 

For tw^elve vears thereafter he labored in the school 
room as teacher, training and educating something more 
than 3200 pupils, alternately in Rockingham, Al)botts- 
burg, .Reh(A)eth, Washington, Leggetts, Tarboro and 
other places. One hundred and fifty oi- more of these 
grateful students have reached the stage of active public 
service. The writer can never forget those halcyon winter 
days', a source of so mnch joy, during which were laid the 
foundation of SG -ious reflection and an earnest endeavor 
to leave the world better than he found it. 

Aside from his daily routine of business and lesson ex- 
ercises, Prof. M. gave a portion of his time an<l t^ilent t<» 



110 SEC.Hi) Staks IX Ai.r. Agios of thic Woki.d. 



lecturing in different places in the State. The sentiments 
advanced and the insynration, shedding forth like a ha- 
low of morning light, cherished and preserved in the mind 
and character of his pupils, seen) also to have flowed 
gently into the musical mind of the poet and filled his soul 
with celestial fire: 

Love thou thy land, with love far-broii^'ht 

From out the storied past, and used 

Witliin the present, but transfused 
Through future time by power of thought. 

Make knowledj^e circle with the Avinds, 

But let her herald, Keverenee tly 

Before her to whatever sky 
Bear seed of men and growth of minds. 

Watch what main currents draw the years. 

Cut prejudice against the grain ; 

But gentle words are always gain; 
Respect the weakness of thy peers ; 

Not clinging to some ancient saw ; 
Not raastei'ed by some modern term : 
Not swift nor slow to change, but firm. 

And in its season, bring the law. 

That from discussion's lip may faJl 
With life, that working strongly, binds. 
Set in all lights by many minds. 

To close the interests of all. 

From 1873 to 1876 he was county school examiner 
foj' the county of Edgeconibe, (N. 0.) certificated 200 
teachers during his service as such. He held that the 
standard of a teaclier's grade should be liigh in order to 
meet the demand of the times as well as the inci-eased learn- 
ing of the pupil and parent. In this he enjoyed the ap- 
proval of all classes of citizens. 

In 1872 he was elected by a handsome majority to 
represent the y:>eo])le of Edgecombe comity in the Str^te 



NEGKt) Staus in ai.i, Ages of the Wokld. Ill 

I>,egislature. In which capacity he proved to be "a foe- 
niun worthy of his steel." Mr. E. Stamps, (now of Ral- 
eigh, N. C.) was his opponent, hi 1874 he was elected by 
a majority of 2850 over H. C. Brown, the ''noblest Ro- 
man" of all the Democrats of Edgecombe. Was also 
honored by a seat in the State Constitutional Convention 
of 1875. 

In 1876 he was again elected, by even a larger ma- 
jority than before, from the Fifth Senatorial District. In 
the summer of the same year he was chosen as delegate to 
the Cincinnati Republican National Convention which 
nominated Hon. R. B. Hayes for President. 

Upon the recommendation of the Hon. Orlaudo Hubbs, 
then Congressman from the Second Congressional District 
of North Carolina, Mr. Mabson was appointed United 
States Ganger and w^as retained as such by Hon. Elihu 
White, Collector, as loug as the National Administration 
i-emained in the hands of the Republicau })arty. 

Since his debut in public life, wearing well his toga of 
manhood, he has attended in an official capacity nearly 
every important convention held in his native State for 
the advancement of his race or party. 

On the 13th of August, 1874 he married Miss Louisa 
Dudley, of Greenville, N. C. A bright minded son and 
lovely daughter adorn this propitious we.llock. 

In religion Mr. M, is a Methodist. As a s])eaker he is 
clear, forcible, eloquent, when he feels the i-esponsibility 
and importance of the question at issue. In this gift he 
has few superiors and many inferiors. A characteristic 
gesture is an impressive, sustained shaking of the fore- 
finger of his right hand in the air above hi« head when he 
approaches the climax in one of his powerful a])peals to 



112 iSiEGRO Stars in xia. A(m:^ of the Would. 



his constituency. Much, indeed, is he like his older brother. 
Hon. Geo. L. Mabson, of Wilniin<2,ton, (now no more), a 
o-entleman of g-entle birth, noble impulse, lofty bearin^and 
a peerless intellect. This brother was the first colored 
man to gain admittani-e tothelej>fd bar of North Caro- 
lina. He was also the honorable recipient of battle' 
wounds and a lifelong- commission in the- civil service of 
this country. In the State Senate^ 1875, March 11th on 
the consideration of the cpiestion of geremandc^-ing- the 
town of Tarboro, the Hon. W. P. Mabson evinced a devo- 
tion and a statesmanship alike warthy of the man and 
the occasion, when he uttered the following concludirg 
lines' of his o-i-eat effoit in denunciation of the scheme: 

"The rio-hts of the citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged bv the United States, or 
by any State, on account of race, color or previous con- 
vdition of servitude." 

That this right will be denied if this act passes, is^ 
clear to every candid mind. 

Will you infringe upon the rights of that citizenship? 
Will von disreo-ard vour constitutional obligations? Will 
you, mv Democratic friend.-, will you trample under foot 
the oreat organic laws of the State and Nation? Will you 
violate the sacred oaths so solemnly made on this fioor to 
sustain them? Will you not rather do us simple justice 
and thereby bind the races together in an everlasting 
harmony alike adyantageous to both? 

In conclusion. When that noble chieftain Toussiant 
L'Ouverture was im])risonetl in the mountains of Switzer- 
land he wrote the first Consul of P'rance, as folloAvs:— 

" I have served my country with fidelity and probity : 
I have served it with zeal and courage; 1 have been de- 
voted to the Government under which I was; 1 have sac- 



Negko Staks in ai.l Agios of the World. 11:? 

rified my blood; I have done my duty. Sire, of your 
mercy, <j;rant me justice." 

So we say. We are citizens of the country; we have 
sacrificed our blood ; we have done our duty; Sires, of 
your mercy, j^rant us justice. 

Hon. Jacob C. Alman was f)oi-n in the county of Marl- 
boro, South Carolina, in the month of October, A. D., 1,828. 

SiuKm and Hannah Ahnan were the humble, yet noble 
souled parents of the subject of this sketch. They were 
slaves, their son Jacob, as of course, followed the condi- 
tion of his parents. 

" Surely "the wisdom of the prudent is to understand 
his wav." 'The 2-ood man leaveth an inheritance to his 
childrens' children." "He that tilleth his land shall be 
satisfied with his bread." "A man shall be commended 
according to his wisdom." "In the morning sow thy 
seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand : for thou 
knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that or 
whether they both shall be alike good." 

The above Scripture appears to apply with peculiar 
force to Mr. Alman, for he is a large land owner of fertile 
land, and withal sows and reaps many thousand dollars 
worth annually. He is an husbandman of great diligence. 
These gifts and qualities have been a standing recommen- 
dation for him to his countrymen for places of honor and 
trust. And in the enjoyment of this status he lived and 
moved from the first days of his emancipation to the fall 
of the Repub[ican party in the South, 

In the dark days of slaver^', which ti-ied the colored 
man's soul, Mr. Alman hired his time from his master t'oi- 
$75 per annum. During which time h^ learned the car- 
penter's trade, beside the wheelwright trade and was "mas- 
ter mechanic" on the line of boats plying between Cheraw 



114 Negko Stars in all Agks of thic World. 



and Charleston. These trades served liim to great ad- 
vantage after freedom. 

In 1868 Governor R. K. Scott appointed him County 
Commissioner, was re-appointed in 1870, holding- this 
position four vears; In 1872 he was nominated bv the 
Rppnbh'cnns of liis county and elected by the people to the 
House of Representativ^es, where he performed his duties 
so satisfactorily to the people at large,regardless of race or 
party, that in 1874 his re-nomination by his party was 
endorsed by the Democratic in convention and was there- 
fore elected without opposition. 1876 found him again 
before the people, unimpeached, buffeted with no charge 
of corruption oi- misconduct or irregularity in office. But 
he suffered defeat with his party in the whole South at the 
hands of the Red Shirt and Mob Campaign, which is a 
lasting disgi-ace to the Christian civilization of the nine- 
teenth century. This good man and patriot was the vic- 
tim of sheer fraud and force. Notwithstanding the un- 
timely overthrow of his political friends, he is still an un- 
dimmed star among tne constellations of his race and a 
gentleman of parts in the estimation of all the world that 
knew him. Often did he bring the author into his ban- 
queting house, and as often did his estimable family 
spread their banner of welcome and comfort over him, and 
there 1 "sat under his shadow with great delight and his 
fruit was sweet to my taste." 

In 1874 he was elected by the annual conference of the 
Methodist Ef)iscoj)al church. North. tore))resentthe South 
Carolina Conference in the General Assembly which met 
in the city of Philadelphia, in which body of great men 
and measures 'he stood high. Mr. Alman is a devout 
Christian gentleman of unbending faith. His whole family 
are members of the church. If ever a man owed his finan- 



Negro Staks in am. Ages of the World. llli 

cial Huccess to moral suavity, piety, intelligence and hon- 
esty of purpose, it is Mr. A. 

He is worth about $25,000 in money, land and stock. 
He is of medium size, and brown complexion, quick in 
movements, interesting in conversation and always pleas- 
;;ind in manners. Thackery says: "A hero, whether he 
wins or loses, is a hero," still. Such a one as Mr. Almaii 
5s the kHightliest in " the field of the cloth of gold." 

He is the father-head of a large, interesting, intelligent, 
well favored, pure-minded family of the noblest impulse. 
Truly "the glory of a man is his offspring," the pride of a 
child is its parents and "they shall rise up and call thee 
blessed," 

His private life and public administration demonstrate 
•so much fitness and honor, well may he be called "Jacob" 
being interpreted means: "a supplanter," 

Warren Clay Coleman, Concord, N. C- 

The sum of a nation's history is the history of the 
lives of her great men. The characteristic incidents of any 
age are but accompaniments of the lives and thoughts of 
the great men of that age. This position could not sug- 
gest that men of letters only have been the representatives 
and reflectors of the things in history that are excellent; 
on the contrary, we would conclude in the light of our 
knowledge of what has affected the history and progress 
of mankind, thai this history and progress have been 
evolved by a "grit and girth" and "pith and worth " 
without necessarily and parantage in letters, as such. 

The conclusions in this C(mnection that are applicable 
to a nation or age are no less applicable to a race. A, 



IK) Xe(;h(» Stars in am. Aues of thk World. 

study of the progress of the races of the earth from a 
purely ethnologic stand[)oiiit bear abundant ])roof to the 
assertion that what men are and what men do make 
hidtorv. 

The Negro in America is not an exception to this rule. 
In neither this servitude nor his freedom has he been nn 
anomaly. Like causes have produced like effecTs, and 
what the Negro was in servitude and whnt he is in free- 
dom are but the natural concomitants of his condition, 
except that perhaps he has made more out of the cin un - 
stances of his freedom than any other people similarly 
circumstanced. In proof of this last observation the sub- 
ject of this sketch might be cited. We mny not hesitate 
to iio to Concord, North Carolina, to look for a man who 
illustrates what there is in man and what there is in the 
Negro. 

Mr. Coleman was born a slave in Cabarius county, N. C, 
on the 25 of March, 1849. His boyhood was not eventful 
before emancipation, except it might be noted that he 
learned the shoemaker's trade and pursued the same to 
some extent in the iaterest of the Confederate cause. Be- 
ing a minor at the emancipation, he was detained as a 
bound boy and was required to perform drudging work. 

This doubtless contributed to arouse his ambition to 
find a way to better things for himself, or to resolve if he 
could not find a way he would make one 

Mr. Coleman very easily manifested that tact in busi- 
ness which has characterized his success along that line in 
hitter years. 

After reaching his n)ajority, for a while he engaged 
himself vnriously in ti-ading nnd j)eddhng and with vary- 
ing results; all the while evincing an insight into business 



Nkgro Stars tn ai.l Ages ot" the Wori.t*. IT 



aiiethods that was sure to gain success bv being cheiished 
and pursued- 

He concluded to set up a baiber shop in connection 
with s, bakery, a somewhat novel combination, but all 
along the line of Mr. Coieman's nature — that is, his life 
must be active and reflective of perseverance. Persever- 
ance has been a prominent characteristic of the man, and 
this coupled with a trustworthy intelligence has brought 
him the "future good, and future need," 

In 1870 he went to Alabama, but returned in 1871 j 
in the meantime reteiving instruction in books fi-om his 
former voung master, William M.Coleman, (Name how 
obtained,) 

After returning from Alabama, Mr, Coleman followed 
farming, but it was apparent his calling lay upon a more 
select if not a higher plane of activity; and, at the sugges- 
tion of his former young master, wentin 187H to Howard 
University, reaching the University at the close of the 
session. 

The surprise which this last clause must certainly 
arouse would suggest that up to this time Mr. Coleman 
had not made sufficient acquaintance with litei-ary affairs 
to know the order of school terms and sessions. 

But nothing daunted, he holds on inspired by his char- 
acteristic intelHgent perseverence, and enters at the open- 
ing of the next ysession. 

His means was not sufficient and he were therefore ne- 
cessitated to su])port or aid himself by extra service on the 
grounds. For this Mr, Coleman was well prepared by 
temperament and otherwise. He made some money while 
there also by selling jewelry and articles in kind. It is in 
the field oi barter and trade that the subject of our sketch 
finds his most attractive and effective school, and his out- 



118 Xe(;ko Staks in all Ages of thk Wokld. 



side efforts were but a practk-al and captivating comple- 
ment to the moT-e pretentious st^'liool of letters. 

To the impressions of the former school mostly by 
reason of necessity and ]ji-obably somewhat by inclina- 
tion, he yielded that he might prose(!Ute its devious courses 
and attain the varied accomplishments w\i\rh he now has 
in its many departments. He therefore returned to Con- 
cord late in 1874. 

Of course Mr. Coleman found it necessai-y to do what 
most successful men have done; viz., to take to himself a 
helpmeet in the struggle of life, and accordingly married in 
the fall of 1875, in this he was not mistaken. Mrs. Cole- 
man has been a crowning addition to Mi*. Colenian's 
equiyjment which has given him the honorable and suc- 
cessful t-areer which has attended him since his marriage. 

He at once sought a home, and ^>egan ])urchasing lots 
and building houses. This he has continued until now 
Mr. Coleman carries on his regular renting list over one 
hundred houses. This fact speaks for itself and affords an 
example that should be a constant reminder and encour- 
agement to the entire colored race. The subject of our 
sketch has extended his substantial acipiisitionstoa niut-b 
wider rang'e. He has pui-chased and ownsexcellentfai-ms, 
and has e(]ui[)ped them with stock and other a])pui-ten- 
ances neiessary to, and characteristic of progressive agri- 
culture. We would hold all this up to the eniulation oi 
our young men and call their attention to the fact whiih 
underlies the sanie, viz., Warren C. CoK-mnn's ])ersever- 
ance. indonn'table will and self-reliance. 

In 1879 Mr. Colenifin enter-ed the field to Mhich he is? 
specially adapted— merchandizing. In this he was very 
successful; so 5nuch so that in 1885, when he was burned 
out, he wai? acknowledged to be among thcforemos^ deal- 



Nrgko Stars in all Ages of the World. IIV) 



ers and business men of Concord, In this fire Mr. Cole- 
man lost outright $7,000, and the undiminished firmness 
with which he sustained this loss is among the historic 
facts of the race, He had not one cent of insurance, but 
the rapidity and permanent success with which he re- 
established himself in the same business place him among 
our heroes. In these statements there is no exaggeration. 
Mr. Coleman's steady progress and uniformly increasing 
po p 'J I a ri ty j u sti fy it a 1 1 . 

In 1881, Mr. Coleman became a stockholder in the N. 
C. Industrial Association, an organization for stimulating 
laudable endeavors among the colored people in the State 
along the lines of agriculture, mechanic arts and general 
handicap. He became at once an active member of the 
Association, and a large and varied '-onttibutor to its an- 
nual exhibits. His devotion to the good of the Associa- 
tion has continually promoted him on the roll of officers, 
filling successively the office of vice president, treasurer and 
president, which last he now holds with perfect satisfac- 
tion to all in any wise interested in the character and aims 
of the association. 

Mr. ColemaTi's official connection with the association 
has been a positive gain and constant stimulo s to the 
organization and his re-election to the presidency bespeaks 
for it even a more creditable and prosperous future. 

Mr. Coleman's interest in education has been no less 
marked than his push and consecration along other lines. 
He has always demonstrated a profound interest in all 
educational endeavors, in school or otherwise, among his 
people. 

As part proof of these assertions the following is note- 
worthy : Mr. Coleman has carried one student through the 
full course of Howard University; one through Livings- 



f20 Neg-'ko Ji^tars in all Ages of- the Woklij', 

ton Collej>-e, and now has another in the same institution;: 
is sup}>ortinji; twoat Shaw TTniversity.and twoat Oxford, 
N. C in the Orphans' Home. His ('(witriburtiofis are to the- 
educational uplfftin-g. of his- peo[)le are- timra'foTd and im- 
portant. 

We have not to4d tiie full stoiy of this remarkable 
man's life. Both time and space forbid. Suftfce it to saj^ 
that Warren (J. Coleman has made his way from a very 
humble beginnino- to position and fortune. Starting out 
inexperienced and poorly informed, to-day his experience is; 
by no means limited and his information decidedly above 
mediocre. 

Starting out empty-handed, he to-clav controls over 
one hundred thousand dollars' vvoi-th of property. 

Before closing this, justice to Mr, Coleman demands 
that we should mention the fact that he is a man of great 
urbanity and hospitalTty, sparing no j)ains or reasonable 
expense to make his home a joy to his family and his house- 
a home to his friends. Withal, we point to Mr. Colenmn 
as a Negro Star of the first magnitude. 

Who is the Honorable Hiram R. Revels, D, D., of Natchez,. 
Mississippi 7 

He is a Race Star of the first magnitude, whose repu- 
tation and good services are not confined within any spe- 
cific degree of latitude or territory^ but is^ rather, nation- 
al aud universal. He was born September 1st, 1822, in 
Fayetteville, North Carolina. Hedged in darkness by the 
black laws- of his native State, he moved early in life to the 
Stat(^ of Indiana for the purpose of improving his educa- 
tion where he attended the Quaker Seminary and gradu- 
ated from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. 

In 1S47 he donned the habiliments of a gospel minis- 
ter. After preaching and lecturing for a number of years 



Nkguo Stars in akt. At.rs of the Wt* 



RLT). 121 



liest^ttled nvnv Natchez, Miss., ('ontiiuiin«r his calfino- in 
this place until he was entrusted with the dnties -And re- 
^^ponsihiiities of Aldenuan bv ftppoiutment at thehanciH of 
Governor Ames. 

In 1,S(>9 he was aintost nnanlrnoiiHlv chosen t(^ repre- 
sent his countj in the State Senate. Iirjai.narv, 1870 a 
•new feature pervade(} the poh-ti-al atmosphere of this 
nation when the subject of this sketch was esc!orted up the 
aiskof the United States Senate to be sworn in as a Na- 
tional American Senator. This incident recalls the passed 
into lively remembrance when we see a proud, eagle-eyed 
.Southern slave-holder and himself a United States Sena- 
tor vdivit'm^r an exalted seat that he had made obno.Kious 
by treachery. And in order that the sisterhood of his 
adopted State should be recognised and restored to her 
place in the grand galaxy of States, a Negro Star in the 
person of Hiram R. Revels had to be called to give her a 
new voire, a new life, a new politv. He has filled many 
honoml positions in Church find 8t;tte with credit to him- 
self, his race and country. Siit)seqnent to the expiratioir 
of his term in the Senate he was elected by the trustees of 
Alcorn University, Rodney, as the president, at an annual 
salary of 12500. 

Later on, Governor Powers a[ipointed him Secretary 
of State— his sei-vice in this capacity was brief. He now 
rests under the bough of private life near Natchez., Miss,, 
recuperating his health and husbanding his resources. 

Wlmt can you say of Honor&hle George H. White, of New Berne 
North Cnrolina? 

He is one of the brightest luminaries in the legal fra- 
ternity of this, his native State He is about thirty-seven 
years of age; and within a few yeirs, comparatively 
.speaking, has succeeded in working and thinking his war 



122 Negko St.vu;s i.v all Agbs of the Woklo. 

Up through the environments of poverty and the meshes 
of ignorance to tlie honored position of State Solicitor 
and prosecuting attornew for his native commonwealth. 
On the criininal side of the doi-ket, he represents the second 
judicial district, composed of the counties of Warren, Hal- 
ifax, Bertie, Xoi-thampton, Craven and Edgecombe. 

He graduated from the Law Department of Howard 
University in 1S77 and was licensed by the Supreme Court 
of North Carolina in 1S79 to practice law in all the courts 
of the State. For se\eral years thereafter he represented 
alternately his county in the State Senate and House of 
Kepresentatives until 1886 when he was elected Solicitor. 
His influence for good has long been felt and appreciated 
in Nortli Carolina. As a lawyer he is brilliant, as a de- 
bater he is like a sharp cimeter, as a Rei)resentative he 
wears the toga of an Elliott. 

Who is Hon. Mifflin Winter Gibbs, of Little Rocli, Arli? 

He was the first colored man who ever held a Judge- 
ship in the United States or presided over a court of jus- 
tice in this government. In 1878 he was promoted to 
high, dignified, judicial honors with all of its grave re- 
sponsibilities by men and a pai-ty who knew of his ability 
and moral worth. 

Born April, 1828, in the city of Philadelphia, and be- 
coming an orphan at an early age, he wisely applied his 
time and attention to useful books and the great moral 
code. He is a business man of more than ordinary tact 
and talent. He is a man of considerable means, enjoying 
remarkable influence throughout the State. 

He IS a po])ular politician and Statesman in every 
sense of that term. A lover of his race, who is not afraid 
of lawn sleeves and ^'lillienskin.'' Public favors, and he has 



Negro-Stars i.\ Ar,T. Ac.ks of tiik Would 123 



ejnoyed many, set comely upon his brow. Lono' may his 
constellation twinkle in the effulo-ence of its own %ht, 
serving as a sentinel to the yontli of his aspirino- race. 

Wli<-it cnu .vou say of Honornhle D. Aug-ustiis Straket, of Detroit, 
Michigan ? 

He is one of our Diamond Stars of Hope. A sj)ai-klino- 
orb with a wide radius. Was born 1842 in the Island of 
Barbadoes. Kept in school after reachino- the nsnal 
school age on the Islands nntil he graduated from the 
Law Department of Howard T^niversitv. 

A profonnd scholar and an able jurist. He came to 
America in 1868 at the request of many friends in the 
States, and engaged in teaching in Louisville, Kentuckv. 
He soon after entered Howard University and graduated 
therewith distinguished honors in 1871 from the Law 
Department. He has held many places of pul)lic confi- 
dence. This limited sketch will not permit me to do full 
justice to the subject. 

Mr. Straker is a great criminal lawyer, his mental 
discriminating and argumentative y)owers bring him their 
reward by crowning his efforts with success. He is an ex- 
cellent orator and has delivered many lectures for the ele- 
vation of his race. He was Dean in the Law Department 
of Allen University and was also instructor iu comuion 
law. He was nominated for Lieutenant Governor- of 
South Carolina by the loyal Republicans of that State in 
the year of 1 S81-, but was of course defeated. He had the 
title of LL. D. added to the title of LL. B. Columbia. S. C 
Wlio was BisJiop Joltu J. Moore, D. D.? 

Bishop Moore was boi-n in Bei-kley county. West Vir- 
ginia, of slave parents, about the year 1818. His mothei- 
was born free, but at the age of fifteen years was kidnap- 



124 Neoko Stars in Ar-i- Ages of- thk Woklw. 

. _— h 



|hh] in Mrtrvl.md tnu\ sold into skivevv in Wt^t Viioiuja. 
\vhei-e she rnarnVl the Bishop's iather; n sla\'e. Her 
sunideii ruime was BiedovtUt and her husband's n^^nle was 
Hod^-p, but a change of owners caused him to adoj)t the 
>iunian)e of Moore. VVlien the Bishop was six years okl 
]iis parents by the ad\ iee and assist a ixe of friendly Qua- 
kers atten1j)ted a flight from sh'ivery with their sis ehil- 
dren, of Avhoni the Bishop was the youngest. 

They were reca[>tured, fiowever, an I the four ohlest 
fhihlren sold South. A stn-ond attempt to gain their hh- 
erty was smeessfnl, and the Bishop's paix^nts with their 
vemaining- two children after many hardshij>s and snffer- 
injis reachwl Bedtord tonntv, Pennsylvania. Here a 
friendly famter gave then* en^ploynient and the two boys. 
Wilh'an) and John, were bound out for a term to his son, 
also a farn)er. Owing to the pursuit of their former owner, 
the Bishop's parents wer-e obliged to leave the settlement, 
but the Bishop i-ea\ained secure on the farm. He was 
taught to i-ead and v^rriteby his employer, and acquii-ed a 
know! .(igeof farming. The last of his ai)pi*enti<-eship was 
servwl to a brother-in-law of his former master, who ex- 
acted six months over the proper time and did not furnish 
the schooling or clothes and cash provided by law after the 
expiration of the time. After leaving his ungenerous mas- 
ter, he worked for six nsonthsfor a fai-mer in the settle- 
ment at six dollar-s pei* month. Having stjved about fif- 
teen dolhtrs, iieconclude^l to visit Harrisburg,aml walked 
the sixty miles to that place in two <h>ys. Harrisburg- 
opened a new world to him, and he r^'gardefl the change 
from his early siuTOundings with am.wement. His small 
capital txx.-oming exhausted, he sought employment and 
labored for several months as .1 liod-carrier. He thei^ 
worked at hotel waiting and finally beanie messenger in 



"^T-AiJit) iSTAHH IN Al.L A«UCS OF THE WoKLD. 12o 



a bank, where he i-emHined soriie time, sm vino- his earningK 
nnd mnkiiijj- some arlVMnc'emerit in a coiDtnon education. 
In ls:^.3 he became i-eli<>ionsly imjjressed and expei-ienced 
fl spiritual chanoe of heart. 

Leavintv Harrisbnro-, lie visited his ohl home in the 
mountains, where lie remained some time, having ob- 
tained emphn-ment as porter in a store. He became 
deeply impressed upou thesnbject of preachiug the gospel, 
in 1884, and after a severe mental struggle, he yielded and 
returning to Harrisbiirg, sought and obtained exhorter's 
license. Neai-ly a year later he received a license to preach. 
The gi-catest obstacle he felt to his acceptance of the call 
was his illiteracy, he sim])ly being able to read, wn*ite and 
cipher a little. So in 1886 and the following vear he em- 
ployed teachers to instruct him in English grammar, ge- 
ography, arithmetic and other studies. 

From the English branches he engaged in the studv of 
Latin, Greek and Hebi-ew, in which he acquired some pro- 
ficiency, and he has continued hisearnest efforts at self-cul- 
tnre nntil the present day. 

In 1889 he became connected with a body of intiei-ant 
ministers coraf)osing the Philadelphia Annual Conferenc-e 
of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Of this 
conference hecontinued a member until 1868, when he was 
elected to the dignity of Bishop. During his connection 
with that conference he traveled on numerous circuits and 
filled stations in various parts of PennsylTania, Maryland 
and Ohio. Crossingthe Allegheny Mountciins as a traveling 
preacher, he proclaimed life and salvation to the fuiiitive 
slaves, w^ho had fount! an asylum in these mountainous 
regions. Among the coal and iron mines he carried the 
gospel on foot, walking thirty miles a day and pi-eaching. 
He left P>altimore in 1852 for California, where he estab- 



12(; Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. 

lished several churches, one in San Francisco worth $50,- 
000. The colored {)eoplein thiscountry having none which 
excel it. Returning to the East with his family in 1868, he 
was made Bishop, in which capacity he has served for 
foui'teen years, having dischai-ged in that office a mission 
to England and also to l>ritish America. 

Bisho]) Moore has always taken an active part in con- 
tending for the lights of the oppressed of his i-ace. While 
in San Francisco, he was engaged five yeai-s teaching- 
school, during which time he represented a constituency 
of that city and county in three State conventions called 
for the purpose of securing the abolishment of the Black 
Laws, disqualifying colored persons to bear testimony 
against whites in criminyl cases. He also took ])art in 
the agitation for the appropriation of school funds for 
the colored children. During his busy life (3f religions 
labor Bishoj) Mooi-e has encountered many perils, being- 
three times shipwrecked at sea, and among hostile Indian 
tribes while the bullets were flying, bnt he came out of all 
mercifully preserved for further works of good among his 
people. 

He is author of the '41istory of the A. M. E. Zion 
Church," and is also authoi- and editor of the "Sunday 
School Worker for Parents and Teachers," j)ublished and 
sent (piai-terly to the Sabbath Schools of his connection. 

He sjieaks with the tongue of fire— a man of great 
mental force. Whatever of influence Hon. Frederick Doug- 
lass exercises over his race in a social and political sphere, 
the Bishop enjoys the same niche in the Christian church 
of America. He may be likened to Tycho among our Stel- 
lar divines. 

Bishop Mooie is a jjroto tyi)e of the (Miristian mar- 
tvrs duriuii- the davs of Nei-o, one of whose amusements 



Negui^) Staks tx alt. Ages of the ^YoKI.D. 127 

was cluuiot nicing by nioht in his g-ardens, when he 
dressed as a eonnnon divine. His torches were men and 
women of the Cliiistian faith, wliose clotliin.^- was smeared 
with pitcli and then igTiited. 

At pieseiit he resides in SaHsbnrv, N. C, and presides, 
as the Bishop, over the Third Episcopal District of the A. 
M. E. Z. 'branch of the greatest Methodist church in 
America. 

(A part of the above is an extract from a sketch in the 
History of tlie Phnrch bv the Bishop himself.) 

WIio is Hon. Blanche K. Bruce? 

He was born in old Virginia, Mar:-h 1st, 1841. By 
dint of moral courage and native intellectual strength, he 
acquired character, education, national name and univer- 
sal fame. 

After filling many important and very responsible offi- 
ces within the gift of the people as well as by executive 
appointment, in 1874 he waselected to the United States 
Senate, serving his adopted State "in the highest council 
of the nation" until 1881, when he was appointed bv 
President Grrfield in 1885 as Register of the United States 
Treasury. The first and best colored man, so far, to hold 
his office. As to business qualifications, character and 
culture and sociabihty Mr. Bruce is ranked with the best 
families in Washington, "the city of magnificent dist- 
ances. 






Robert S. Rives. 

This attractive generic constellation was born near 
Carthage, in the county of Moore, North Carolina, June 
16th, 1848. At the early age of six he learned the English 
alphabet within about twenty minutes. He was about 
the same age when he heard the 23d chapter of Psalms 



128 NrK(4uo Stars in ai,i, Ac.ks ok thr Wounn,. 



read, and foriniii<ji; quite a love for it, possessiuo; as he did' 
then, and does now, a verv i-etentive meniorv, this then' 
httle s])arkliti<>: star soon learned to read or repeat this 
chapter 'by heart." This sei'vintr as a snhstructure for 
the form and idea of bililical expressions, his youthful gos- 
pel turn of mind soon became attached to the wondei-ful 
teachings found in the 14th Chapter of St. John. His then 
owners discovering in him an unusual aptitude for one so 
young, gave him a few lessons in Webster's Speller, This 
was his first instruction, notwithstanding thefact, he had 
been reading q uitea while in out of the way places^sr/Z) rosa^ 
Just before he was ten years of age he felt the earnest 
stirrings of the spirit, whereupon he sought and obtained 
pardon for his childish sins. 

She who was then called mistress, took him to task 
and threatened him, and thereby caused him to stop, for 
several years, notwithstanding she was a member of the 
Presbyterian church. Earlv after the surrender he turned 
toward the Lord again. He then began feeling his calling 
which he very distinctly felt when six years old. He 
joined the church at fifteen and filed every oHice below 
the UniA ersity.. He married in 1870, and in 1874 joined 
the North Carolina Annual Conference of the A. M. E. Z, 
Convention — was sent to a veiy [)oor charge two hun- 
dred and fifty miles from home, where he received. $o 1.00 
for the year. He was therefore necessitated to teach 
school, for during this period two full days passed with- 
out one morsel being eaten at his humble home (a wife 
and two little boys, the eldest now a graduate from the 
Normal Department of Livingstone College. 

He was ordained Deacon in 1876, and Elder at Salis- 
bury in 1878. In 1879 Bishop J. W. Hood sent him to 
the Manchester Station with five other pastoral charges 



NK(}Kt> Stars in aia. Ages ok the World. 129' 



undei- his siipei-vision. At the same conference he was 
honored with the important dnt y of representing; the Cen- 
tral North (\Mrohna Conference in the General Conference 
wliich met in Mon^";onierv, Ahibama the followinj»; vear. 
He also boi-e the fraternal greetings of his Conference to 
the S. C. Conference. His next pastoral charoe was lo- 
cated at Statesville, N. C, after one year he was sent to 
Clinton Chapel, Charlotte, N. C, where he held charg-e for 
th.-ee years, duuring which time he made 3,025 pastoral 
calls, adding five hundred members to that church. 

The chni'ch enjoyed the greatest out pouring of God's 
spirit we ever witnessed. During his pastorate here, he 
was again honor-ed with the high duty of representing his 
Conference on the floors of the General Conference which 
met in the city of New York in 1S84. During the sitting 
of the General Conference in New York^ he had the honor 
of being delegated to the Central Conference which met in 
Bnltimore, Md., in December of the same vear, and bv 
substitution had the honor of serving on the Joint Com- 
mission which met in the caj)ital city July, 1885; and 
again he was elected a representative to the General Con- 
ference which met in the city of New Berne, N. C May. 
1888. During tiie three General Conferences of which he 
was a member, he was on the committee that arranged 
the Districts and also assigned the Bishops, and at pres- 
ent is a member of the Joint Commission to propose a 
union of the C. M. E. and the A. M. C. Zion churches. 

After discharging the duties of pastor for three years 
in Clinton Chapel, waselected Presiding Kkler and assigned 
to tlip CImi-lotte District of which he is now Presiding 
Elder. 

His advantages for education have been very limited. 
When but a lad he s])ent four weeks under the tuition of 
Mrs. Henrietta McDonald (then Miss Hogans). She gave 



rsO' Xegko S^taks in A'LL Ages of the- Wo-kt.dv 

him .f 1,00 |)er month to teach an alphabet chiss of terr- 
After- entering the ministi-y he preached" and taught for 
eeven jea;rs, and often studied on his knees, fn 18'9 he 
spent fmir months* in the State Ncvrnial'SHiool at Fayette- 
ville, N.. C, and read physics under Dr. Pan! Bearier, of 
Cabarrus, connty, read theoTooy nnder the instruction of 
Yh-. .7. A. Davis, then President of North Carolina CoITege- 
at Mt. Pleasant, N. C, and in 1SS4 he read Latfn under 
the Rev, Dr Kobey, of Charlotte, N. C. (niun-h South. 

Rev. R, S.. Rives is a devout christfan, an fntelli.uent 
man, a devoted husband, and a kind father, a o^ood pro- 
vider, a safe yoeman, an ener<i-etic reformer, and an elo- 
quent pulpit orator. Mav his a;S'-en'diu!i: orb ere lono- 
reach the destined fullness of light, of nsefnhiess and re- 
ward on earth and in heaven. 

Nat Turner and Denmark Veazfe. 

Slavery seemed doomed when the thunders of a vol- 
canic eruy)tion broke forth in tlie qniet dales whei-e the 
frohcsome laughter of thoughtless lasses was painfnllr 
contrasted with hideons groans of slaves smarting under- 
the driver's whiji. 

In the early morn of June 16, 1821, in the crescent citr 
of Charliston, S. C. and of August 21, 1831 on the planta- 
tions hiden with golden grain, in Southampton, Virginia, 
the reader might have stood aloft and witnessed a second 
Spartacns, not in Italy, leading the slave element of Rome 
against the Emy)ress of the world — |>ossibly it would com(- 
up to the full measure of your admiration for a deliverer 
of an oppressed people to see the slave Tonssaint 
rOuverture^ of St. Domingo,, dash upon the tyrant and 
crush him, and liberate millions of victims— fighting and 
conquering— almost at the selfsauje moment, three of the 
greatest military powers of the world. But it was nei- 



trlier of the.se, it wfis Nat Turner clHimiuji: the divine rio-ht 
to strike ihe foe of his i-ai-e and human libei'ty. He was 
5jorn in Soutlinnipton Vn-ginim, I)ec-einl:)e.r 2, 1<S<K) of slave 
jj)arent8. Havinj;' n ivligious east of inind he eoulti all the 
anore readily di!r»cei'n the-saei'ed'n^s«'of lih^erty ^ud the mis- 
ery of slavery — God in the oi>e, death and hell in the 
-other. In seclusion be sought the will of God, in the bat- 
tle-ax €omsolatiou and freedom He preached awd medi- 
tated over the deplorabfe condition of his race until be ar- 
i-ived at tbe conclusion that "1t« who would be free must 
iiiniself strike the first blow." He prepared hiniselfand 
-compatriots -as best li« could under tlie circumstances for 
theeventu On the 21st -of August, 1831, Nat Turner sud- 
■denly f)])])eared like a fiery comet in the Southern sky, 
shocking the whole slave power in America, slave drivers 
and masters fell like autumn leaves before his merciless 
blade. His coadjutors also lay prostrate around him. 
Finally he wat? captiued and executed. He died as he 
li\ ed, brave, consciencious,by contendingfor justiceand the 
uncouditional liberty of his people. Tui-ner was 31 yea.rs 
of age when he was hung, 

Denmark Veazie was 'i^i^ years old when be was exe- 
ted. Veazie was born on ooe of tbe islands, St. Thomas, 
Tiear Charleston, and who by great frugality, purchased 
his freedom. To effect the freedom of his i-ace he thought 
it wisdom to set fire and the sword to do tlieir destruc- 
tive work on the IGth of June, 1822. He was not success- 
ful, however, in keeping his counsel- It was rumored that 
an insurrection among the slaves was to begin at a cer- 
tain time, whereupon the whole city, state and nation be- 
came aroused. Veazie was executed together with 135 
others, unlike rOuverture he failed and submitted to 
fate, as did Spartacus before, and Nat Turner afterwards. 
These heroes left in their names monumental history and 



132 Negro Stars in all Ages ok the World. 



their mission, to free their people, in the hands of posterity 
an«l a (.'hristian civilization. 

Hon. Frederick Douglass, LL. D. 

Mr. Donglass' life career shines like an orb of surpass- 
ing brillianQV, ever glosA'ing with the unadulterated histie 
of a crystal gem of the first water. All along from his 
flight from bondage to the end of his eventful life and re- 
markable services and successes will form one proud 
■'milkv wav" runninji-throuo-b the historvof this conntrv. 

It is said that no man in France, not even the (^jpsars 
or Napoleons ever did a niore daring act than Billaud 
Varennes when he took his life in his hands and marcln^d 
down the aisle and into thetribune to accuse Robespieri-e. 
It was the courage of the gambler, the soldier and the oi-- 
ator united in one man. He won, and the reign of terror 
ceased from that moment. 

Mr. Douglass bearded the lion of slavery in his den — 
fought the slave power until he agitated the whole North, 
enlisting in his cause mighty uiinds, akin to his own. A'ic- 
tory onlv satisfied his patriotic hea?*t — a victory that set 
everv slave at libertv and inauo'uratinjir him into our 
American citizenship. 

As an orator and statesman, he is one of the foremost 
men in the United States. He was for a number of years 
the Moses of the colored race of America. Sometime in the 
year of 1817 Pi-ederick Douglass was born on the eastern 
shore of .Marvland. His mother and <j:r:indmothei- were 
both slaves, while his father- and grandfathei* were free 
n)en. His mother was one of those strong-minded, virtu- 
ous, loving women. "All tliat I am my mother made 
me" a])plies to Mr. Douglass as well as to J. Q. Adams. 
ex-President of the United States. "'When God sets out 



Nkguo Staks in am. Ages of the Wohld. 13?, 



to make a ^reat man He first makes ajL^reat woman," It 
is sufficient to nay that Mr. Don^lass, rising; to the sub- 
3ime of power and oratorical beanty and strength, \s 
sini{)ly the prototype of his mother. In the matter of ora- 
tory and eloquence be has no equal, and certainly not a 
suiterior i'l this country. 

The author cannot do the subject of this sketh full 
justice in this small volume; he will, therefore, refer the 
seeker after truth to larg,er works on the life and service!" 
of Mr. Douj:;lass. 

Aftei- running: away fi-om the shambles of slavery Tie 
reached New Bedford, Mass. Adiere he married and entei't^d 
thediristian ministry in A. M. E. Z. church at that place. He 
almost instantaneously enlisted in thelecturefield against 
the institution of slavery. He canvassed the public tiiind 
throughout the Northern and New England States. To 
him more th m any other one man, linng- or dead, is due 
the war for the freedom of many millions of blacks. 
For some time he edited a newspaper, " The North Star ," 
in New Bedford and subsequently in Washington City, D. 
C. During- his remarkable career he has been appointed 
on several commissions of a national character, one of 
which was the San Domingo commission in 1872. 

In 1877, he was appointed Marshal of the District of 
Columbia by President Hayes, which position he held and 
honored for four years. Upon the inauguration of Presi- 
dent Garfield he was appointed to the office of Recorder of 
Deeds for the District of Columbia. When Mr. Cleveland 
was seated as President of the United States Mr. l)ou<>lass 
resigned, whereupon Mr. J. M. Trotter, of Boston, was 
a[)j)ointed to succeed him. In 1883 he was elected Presi- 
dent of the National Convention held in Louisville by th^ 
representativecol(u-ed men of thiscountry. At the National 
Republican Convention held in Chicagom 1888 he received 



\M Negro Stars in allAges of thr Worli>. 

uiiBolicited, amimber of votes for the Presidency ot the 
United States. 

The name of P'rederick Douglass is sounded in chu'ion 
notes on land and sea, tar and near. His voice during the 
ever memorable and exciting days when the abolition of 
slavery was agitated, was heard, full of majesty and 
power. It broke flinty prejudices of unwilHng minds, just 
as the mighty winds bend before it the tall cedars of Le- 
banon, subdued and converted their deep-seated and 
well fixed convictions as completely as did Paul, when he 
turned the burning edge of Roman hatred and then con- 
verted, by the power of divine sjjeech, the 27G souls (jn 
board a ship of Alexandria after the calm of a fourteen 
days tempest and the Euroclydon of destruction in oberli- 
ence to his sweet voiced lullabv of praver had driven its 
mad, mountain waves to rest, to shame, to hide beneath 
the bleak shores of Adria. 

His eloquence edilied friends and admirers — it even di- 
vided the wall of fire flames of opposition and in the 
breach led freedom's hosts through. His intelligeut and 
bold exposition of truth and justice for his race shook for- 
midable arsenals and rallied twocontinentsto his support. 
His 45 years of great efforts are so many general legacies 
to his appreciative race. In company with such men as 
Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner and others of like moukb 
he was an intellectual giant among giants. And as Joshua 
stood at the head of Israel on the plains of Gibeon and 
pittied his men against the combined armies of five kings.^ 
appealing to even sun, moon and stars to help him, so 
Douglass marshalled the party of liberty and returned 
with Caesar's motto wove into his standard, "I came, 3 
saw, I conquered." 

To this age and race the Lord gave Douglass. Whevi 
in the future the dark shadow shall haveentered his door- 



Nf:(}ro Staks i.v all Ages of the World. 135 



wav and iiiidone the silver cord and broken the j^-oldeii 
bowl, or the pitcher at the fountain, and the wheel is broken 
at the cistern, there will be a vaccuuni in the <j::alaxy of 
earth's gren test thinkers, workers and reformers. Who 
will fill the void? 

Who was the Honorable Ahnihnw Hanson'.' 

He was, in May 1862, Commercial Agent of the United 
States in Monrovia. In December 1863, he was appointed 
bv President Linc(jln, as Commissioner and Consul Gene- 
ral of the United States to the Republic of Liljeria, West 
Africa. He interested himself in whatever tended to ex- 
tend and strengthen the commercial and friendly relations 
between these two countries. Such a negotiation as this 
is the greatest and most important in national economics. 
In some respects, it is a Christian movement, establishing 
humanity, civilization and brotherhood, as well as a com- 
in^^rcial union. It often obviates bloody wars between 
nations, therebv making the consul the most worthy of 
patriots nnd living martyrs. 

Alexandre Diiinas. 

A Freu'h novelist, was the son of the Republican gen- 
eral. Alexandre Davy Dimas, who was himself the off- 
spring of the marquis Davy dela Pailleterie and anegress. 
His father died when he was quite a child. He was born 
at Villers Cot terels, 24th July, 1808. At the age of 20 
he went to Paris ^o seek his fortune, where he received the 
appointment in the household of the due d'Orleans, in 
1826 he first appeared as an author in a volume of 
Nouvelles, l»ut it was not until 1829 when his historical 
drama, "H- nri HI, et sa cour" was brougnt up(jn the 
stage that Ids genius commanded the admiration of the 
literary world. It would requiremuny ])ages to enumerate 
all the productions which havebeen issued under the name 



jE3(} NKCiKu Stars ix ai.i. Agks of thk VVokld, 

of Alexander Duimis. His West known works are " Len 
Trois Mousijnetnires" (Svols.lS44) ''Le Con)te deMonte 
Cristo^' (12 vols. lS41-4r>) "La ReineMargot" (« vols. 
1845) and " Menioires.'^ He died December 5th, 1870, bnt 
his son bearing- the same name as his father, whs born 
ill Taris. Jnlv 28th, 1814, he is a celebrated writer also. 
Mr. Diiinas was installed as a meajber of the French 
Acadamy in 1875. 

He wi-ites in his shirt sleeves and is said to be the 
T-fchest author in the w(jrld. 

Blest indeed is he who never fell, 
But blest much more, who from the verge of hell, 
('Hiiih- ii}) to Paradise. Bay.'url Tnylor. 

lit. Rev. W. F. Dick'TSon, D. D. 

In writinu" the life lesson of this Eeverend Doctor, the 
anthor cannot do belter than to adopt the report of the 
Coinmittet^ on Obituary, comprised of Revs. J. G. Fry. G. 
W. Hnnter, Robt. Lncas. W. H. Bishop and B. W. Morris, 
at the Annual Conference of the A. M. E. Church held at 
Company Shops, November 25th, 1885: 

To rhc' Bi>!h()p and Conference : 

Dnar F/ither and Brethren : \A'e, your Committee who 
were ay)y)ointed on Obituai-y, beg lea ve to report the fol- 
lowing: 

Bisliop Willi;un Fisher Dickerson, \). D. de])ai-ted this 
life, December 20th, 1884, in the City of Columbia, R. (\ 
He was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, Jauuaiy 15th. 
1844. In earl V manhood he entered the ministry of our 
church, a mend)ei- of the New York Conference, in whi'-h 
he rose rapidlv to (Mninence as a preacher. His fame as a, 
preacher spreaci far and wide, and he was in '-onstant de- 
marifd on all grand occasions. If I may estimate the in- 



Ni-:(;k() Stakh in ai.k Agks of the Would. 1 ''t 



tellectiial i-licfracter of Bishop Dic.kerson, his power of ap- 
plication was enormous. His information was remark- 
able for its aceuraev and the ready command whirh he 
had aecinired; He weighed the force of words; their origin 
and meaning was duly considered. His logical power w^as 
of the highest order, his grasp like that of a vise. With 
these transient gifts he combined the natural expression 
of strong common sense. Many of his social and moral 
(jualities-were of the best character. His companionship 
was gentle, neither stiff nor haughty. He was as humble 
and simple in his manner as a child His conversation and 
manners A'ere always characterized by good nature. Can- 
dor was one of his characteristic traits. He was unselfish. 
He lived for others. He was devoted to his wife and chil- 
dren. He was liberal towards his friends. No service was 
too nnich for him to perform to render his visitors com- 
fortable. He was loved and reverenced by many of the 
members of this Confei-ence. We have no doubt his last 
words, '' 1 want ivst, or need rest," was not only rest from 
his labor which characterized his work as a Bishop in the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church, but that rest which 
remains for the peoy)Ie of God, "where the wicked cease 
from troubling, and the weary are at rest." 

Who is Hon. P. SB. Pinch hack? 

He is a nativeson of Virginia, manumitted when quite 
a child by his master-father and sent to Gilmore's High 
School in Cincinnati. It is foreign to the design of thin 
work to give lengthy biographical sketches of the subjects 
enumerated in it, therefore, the reader should not look for 
all that might be said of this distinguished Negro-Ameri- 
can. 

It is sufficient for the lesson the author desires to teach 
to say that Hon. P. B. S. Pinchback moved up from the 



138 Ne(jh() Staks in ai.lAges of thk World. 

i-abin ofa slavetothepddy heightsofa wealtliyu-entleinaii . 
•a lawyer, eminent politician, Governor, Lieutenant Gov- 
ernoi- and United States Senator from the ^i-eat State of 
Lonisiana. He was born May 10,1837. He came up 
thr()u<!:h every official gradation of honor and trust. He 
is a man of rare mental powers— a born ruler of nu n and 
an honor to his race and country. 

For several years he was editor of the "Louisianian," 
?i live organ, emittino; light, leaiiiing to the cosmopolitan 
class of the readers and infusing and inspiring patriotism 
into tlie heads and hearts of enemies as well as friends. 
He also had the honor of tilling many civil stations of life 
for his State, creditable alike to himself, his i-ace ami his 
adopted commonwealth. Never has his records been 
bhickened with even a charge of con-uption, while his pri- 
vate life exhibits the "lorv of man. 

Who is the Hon. Richard H. Glenres? 

From 1872 to 1876 he was Lieutenant Governor of 
the State of South Carolina. During the Republican re- 
gime in that State he was a conferee above reproach and 
■"a foeman worthy of his hire." He went out of office in 
the great Southern political revolt in 1876 Himself and 
Governor Chamberlain, the best Governor the State has 
l)eeii blessed with since the war and the last one she has 
had by the popular vote since 1876, were fraudulently 
counted out by "Red Shirts and shot-gun aristocracy."' 
Pi-esident Hayes, administration was the origination and 
chief impetus to this wholesale fraud and usurpation 
against lawful authority, peace and dignity of the State. 
Surely "an honest man is the greatest work of God," is 
written all throngh the private and official life of Lieuten- 
ant Governor Gleaves. 



Negro Stahk in all AiiiOH of the Would. 139 



Francois Dominique Tonssiiint, snnuuned UOverteur, whu horn 
nt Butln, in St. lH)njin^<j, in 1747. Tlie' (listin^iiislicd WmdeJl 
Pliillij).s spolif o/' itini tiiusly: {wliicli is a suflicient hiuivl to 
wreathe his brow ns the World's Greatest Liberator nnd 
Martyr, ) 

"Hayti, from the riihis of hei- colonial depenrlence, is 
become a civilized State, the seventh nation in the cata- 
lojiiie of commerce with this country, inferior in morals 
and education to none of the West Indian Isles. Foreign 
merchants trust her courts as willingly as they do our 
own. Thus far, she has foiled the ambition of Si)ain, the 
/greed of England, and the malicious statesmanshi[) of Cal- 
houn. Toussaint made her what she is. In this work 
there was grouped around him a score of meji, mostly of 
pure negro blood, who ably seconded his efforts. They 
were able in war and skilful in civil affairs, but not, like 
hiui, remarkable for that i-are mingling of high qualities, 
whi h ;done makes true greatness, and insures a man lead- 
ership among those otherwise almost his equals. Tous- 
saint was indisputably their chief, courage, purpose, en- 
durance, these are the tests. He did plant a state so 
deej) that all the world has not been able to root it up. 

1 would call him Napolean, but Napolean made his 
way to empire over broken oaths and through a sea of 
bk»od. This man never broke his word. '"No retalia- 
iation*' was his great motto and the rule of his life; and 
the last words uttered to his son in France were these: 
'■'Mv V)ov, you will one day go back to St. Domiuiio: for- 
get that France murdered your father." I would call him 
Cromwell, but Cromwell was only a soldier, and the state 
he founded went down with him to his grave. I would 
call him Washington, but the gi-eat Virginian held slaves. 
This man risked his em])ire rather than permit the slave- 
trade in the humblest \illage of his dominions. You think 



140 Ne(;ko Staus ix all A(ji<;s of the \Voin>i). 



nie a fanatic to-ni^-ht, for you read history, not with vonr 
eyes, but with youi- prejudices. But fifty years hence, 
when truth gets a hearing, the muse of history Avill put 
Phocion for the Greek, and Brutus for the Roman, Hamp- 
den for England, Fayette for France, choose Washington 
as the bright, consummate flower oi our earlier civiliza- 
tion, and .lohn Brown, the ripe fruit of our noon-day, 
(thunder of applause,) then dipping her pen in the sun- 
ligiit, will write in the clear blue, above them all, the name 
of the soldier, the statesman, the martyr, Toussaint 
L'Overteure." 

Who was Zerah ? 

He was an Ethopian king and warrior who com- 
manded, at one time, a million men, see Chnm. XIV, 9:15. 
He was the terror of Judah which he invaded, B. . , but 
was baffled by Asa. 

What can yon say of Rev. Addison Quick? 

Whileyethe has barely reached the full statue of phys- 
ical manhood, few abler and more earnest men in the 
church and race work can be found South cjf the "Mason 
and Dixon" line than the Rev. A. E. Quick, pastor of the 
Wesley, M. E. Church, of Beaufort, South (\irolina. The 
dual essentials of a worthy public man— oratory and ca- 
pacity for the work assigned or chosen— are not often 
blended in the person of one individual, but estimated on 
that basis, Rev. Quick stands out preeminently one of the 
strong leaders ainong the disci]jles of the M. E. Conference, 
North, and in the recorded deliberations of the body of 
spiritual and intellectual giants, since his connection 
therewith, his mind and work are deeply impressed. 

He was born of slave parents, December 31, 1857, in 
Richmond county, N. C. Who Janus-like was born facing 
the old and the new history of time and men at one and 



Nkgro Stars in all Agios of thk Would. 141 

the same nioiTieiit. His father, John Quick, was a cai-- 
pentei" by trade and hired his time fioiii his master, Ben- 
jamin Quick, of Marlboro Co., S. (\, jj^'iving fHOO.OO a 
year for him seh'. His mother was a seamstress and be- 
longed to Dr. C. C. Covington, near Rockingham, N. C. 
Elizabeth Quick, his mother, is a n(jl)le souled woman, 
and inspired her offspring by prayers to God and filial de 
votion, to befit themselves for honorable, happy and use- 
ful lives. I^is father die(^ when the young pi-eacher was 
three years of age. There was nothing eventful in his ca- 
reer as a boy, but he was always of a religions turn of mind. 
Ahout the 3'ear of 1877 he was converted and joined the 
A. M. E. Z. Church at his old home at Rockingham. Here 
he attended the public schools until he entei-ed the State 
Normal at Fayetteville, N. C, in 1874. 

In this institution he was a favorite with both stu- 
dents and teachers'; his Chesterfield-like manners, gentle- 
manly bearing won for him the confidence and uood will 
of all who knew him. In 1884, December 16th, he mar- 
ried Miss L. A. Alman, a lady t)f high intellectual attain- 
ments, and connected himself with the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, North. After thus preparing himself for the 
work of life in his Master's vineyard, he entered the Gram- 
mar School of Theology at Atlanta, Georgia. He is in no 
sense inclined to politics save and except wherein the 
moral and mental development of his race are sought. 

He has written and published several sermons by the 
request of his church, which dis(]uisitions have been com- 
mented upon in the most flattering and praiseworthy lan- 
guage by the press and divines. Note the following edito- 
rial found in one of the leading white journals of the 
State: 

"Wesley M. E. Church, Beaufort, w^as filled to overfiow- 
ing Sunday evening last, it having been previously an- 



142 Negko Staus i.\ all Agks of thk Wuin.r*. 



nouncerl tliMt the pjistoi-, Kev. A. E. Quick, would at that 
time ])i- arh a sermon to the mechanics of tlie town. 
Promptly at haU'-[)ast ci^lit o"(loc-k the ])ast.,i- l)e<ian hy 
selecting- for the snliject of his discourse the I'Uh verse of 
the 44th (•hay)tei- of Isaiah. To say that the subject was 
ably handled is but tofaintly express it. * * * "" 
Mr. Quick is but 80 years old, and jadpn^- from the pro- 
gress made by him within the the past two years, he bids 
fair to become famous both as a logical reasoner and an 
elegant preacher." — The Palmetto Post- 

On Decoration Day in Beaufort, May ^Oth 1887, the 
city was crowded with visitoi-s, military and civil, from 
all the principal towns and cities of JSouth Carolina and 
Georgia. After a long and imposing procession the surg- 
ing mass of grateful citizens came to a quiet around the 
graves at the National (emetery. The sjieaker ai'ose 
amidst this weallh of hei-oic hearts and floral offerings 
i\ud said something that melted the eyes of that v ast 
audience into trickling tears and shoutsof joy. 

The Sen Island Aew.v, published at the same place, 
speaking of it said: 

"Rev. E. A. Quick made a most excellent address that 
was listened to with the greatest interest. We are sorry 
we have not space for it but to su[)|)ly thegeneial denjand 
we gi\e the follow ing extracts: 

Mr. President, l.udies l<elh>\v Citizens n rid Soldiers : 

"Perhaps no one cause of itself could assembleso many 
of us together as that which now demands the attention 
of this hour, it is a right or privilege acc(jrded to cdl men 
to contribute respect to the dead in some measure. And 
to-day iu obedience to this sacred trust imposed the adja- 
cent cities and towns, the islands and mainland assemble 



Nkgko Spaks in all Agios of the World. 143 



with flowers in hand to \vreath3 the oraves of tht- jiast. 
The highest and most illuRti-ion.s i)i-ide of any Nation or 
people is its manhood, and espeeially when this manhood 
makes life a sacrifice on the bloody altar of the battle 
in the throwing off the yoKe of oppression, tyranny, and 
despotism. To the brave and noble-hearted, death is al- 
ways preferable to oppression. 

" To-day while this vast mnltitnde of loyal citizens meet 
to pay their annual homage of respect to the dead heroes 
of the past, we have met to consecrate ourselves anew to 
the filial duty. National pride, and common faith that 
binds 85,000,000 sons of liberty to the altai-s of the bat- 
tle-field. We have not met to revive the feelings of the in- 
stitution of slavery; that institution that covered the pil- 
grims' land with human carnage; that placed in the 
hands of Southern Molochs the rod of iniquity polished 
with stigma and oppression. No, we do not wish to re- 
vive these feelings so prevalent in the beginning of this 
century. N(3, it shall not go forth tha,t we of this age re- 
joice in the return of night, but that we rejoice with feel- 
ings of a higher pride and better ideas, that characterize 
an honest and progressive people. Twenty-five years ol 
intellectual growth have narrowed us in our once bitter 
feeling towai-d our oppressors. We learned that pro- 
gress travels not with prejudice. We have grown broader 
jn brotherhood and feelings to the common interest of our 
countrymen. We woiild celebrate that faith and courage 
which made every slave a freeman and citizen, and imited 
a once divided country, v\'ith one common interest and 
feeling. 

''Fellow citizens, we are one as American people what- 
ever our feelmgs of the past have been, we are bound to- 
gether, white rnd colored, rich and poor by the blood of 



144 Negri) Stai{s in ai.i.Agek of thk Wokld. 

these sleei)in,ii- hraves. We are united bv one mighty e.ible 
of three powcriul cords, interest, necessity and conmion 
hnnianitv. And so connected by these elements in-espect- 
iveof color or race that to separate wonld paralize our 
• •ountry in its development in every possible way and 
that witliont remedy. In answer to this broad question 
a thousand times put, has the colored man any claim on 
tne progress of this couiiti-v? 

"I sludl^notsay liiscounlry until his claim is acknowl- 
edged. Now, l>ein^- (o themanner born I auj fi-eeto handle 
him just as he stands. First, I wish to ask the c]uestion, 
has he contributed anythin;^,- to the enterpriseof thiscoun- 
try ; if so, in what way? I answer, as a voluntary rcjjre- 
sentative that he has and does contribute alone to the 
South by his labor in various ways, at lea.st 85 per cent, 
to her enterjjrises. He contributes to the material growth 
of our country thiough the railroad enterprises, for 85 per 
cent, of the i-oads were constructed by him. There is 
hardly a foundrv in the South that has not colored labor 
in it. Even in the various mines of the South and West, 
coal, iron and gold are worked by tiie man of color, per- 
haps not because they want liim to have a place, but 
because no one can do his work. All of the [)hosphate 
mines are run by colored laboi-; even some of the depart- 
ments of these mines are controlled by colored men who 
show considerable skill in the managenient of the busi- 
ness, and uiove things with marked facility. The ma- 
chine shops through the South are partially filled by col- 
ored laborers; of course they do the coai-ser work, but 
froui a cause that presents itself all along theline of color, 
to allow him a higher place would warrant a strike and 
clear evavy shop that has in it a wiiite fare. He fires all 
of the engines of the South, from the stationary to the fly- 
ing locomotive, and is often the better workman or en- 



Nkgko Stars in \ia. Auks of the World. 145 



j^ineer of the two; but t(» j>roin()te him would he to vio- 
late the order of the day, and thus allow the claim of a 
fairer one. He is certainly the smith and carpenter of the 
South and West; he is as a manufacturer or producer to 
the South what the white man is to the North. Masonrv. 
carpentry, and working of iron in ancient times fill quite 
a page in the history of culture and civilization, the stroke 
of the painter's brush was among the highest arts in the 
(lays of antiquity. 

Now, whatever these arts or callings are to the de- 
velo])ment of this country determines the colored man's 
conti-ibution to the various enterprises of this country, 
since fie is prime in these departments of work. In these 
humble, but powerful and indispensible contributions, he 
is in the interest of his country, in labor, what ancient 
Greece and Memphis were* in literature am] art to the 
world. 

Tlip followinfr is an extrnct from n sermon preacherl by the siih- 
Ject of this sketch and piihlished nfterwards at the urgent re- 
<//; sf of friends and officials ofhischnrch. May, 2d Sunday, 1888. 
Subject— ''Tlie Glorious Ascension of Christ." 

The Eev. A. E. Quick took for his text Luke 24—51— 
"And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted 
from them and carried u]) into heaven." ****** 
The minister said: This wonderful scene closes the lono- 
list of miracles accorded by the Saviour during his visit to 
the earth, yet no tongue can tell the number of miracles 
performed by him through all ages, before this his advent, 
or even after, since every act of grace and conversion is a 
miracle, as it is not, and never will be, understood by us. 
P'orty days had elapsed since his resurrection, a sufficient 
time to establish the claim of it. He had appeared at the 
fisheries, and ate with his disciples, and had appeared in 
their meeting while they worshipped, and with his own 



146 NEGKO STAR.S IN ALI- AGES OF THE WOKLD. 

hands and feet, fresh from the print of nails, his pierced 
side and thorn-])ressed brow, dispelled the doubts of 
Thomas. Having satisfied his disciples tjs to his claims 
in every possible respect as their Lord and Master, and 
having- accomplished the gi-eat work of redemption, he 
mnst return to His Father's Kingdom, and, in accord- 
am e with a ])romise to his disci})Ies to ])repare them a 
place, he had selected as the place of his departure one of 
prominence and historic fame. Olivet, the pleasure ground 
of the city j)opulace, that beautiful hill overlooking the 
city of Jerusalem, a place where afterwards the Roman 
army encamped, and where the invincible cavali-y of 
Pomyjey had rested beneath its shades. This was the hill 
over which the p]gyptian infantry swept on their way to 
the city. The Monarch of Babylon surveyed his legions 
from this sumnnt as they marched along its base, and 
over the same paths led captive the three fireproof child- 
ren with his invincible and ])rophetic Daniel. Ten thous- 
and Jews had laid down their live.^^ on this ground in de- 
fence of their city against Rome. Certainly no spot in 
Asia is more memorable for events, ^,nd certainly not 
more noticeable when we learn that it was this place the 
blessed Master chose as the last s[K)t of ground •j[)on 
which to rest his feet, and from which to show his last 
form on earth; no more to walk through here with his 
disci])les from Bethany, or to the house of Marv and Mar- 
tha; no longer the place of agony and [)i'ayer for him; 
but a glorious srene that shall ecli})se the past history 6f 
Oli vet-for theglorious ascension of our Saviour ! Here upon 
this hill Titus delivered his lengthy address to his soldiers 
for the final struggle and capture of the city. His soldiers 
thus being animated from here, pressed even to the Tem- 
ple, and swept thecastle. But it is more than historic to 



NKt;«o Stars in ai,l Acjks of the Wori-d. 147 



US when we think of it, and HSKOciate with our mejiiorv 
faith in the event, it beeonjes life to us. From this hill 
went forth the irrevoccible command to the disciples to oo 
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creatui-e, 
and to baptize them in the name of the Holy Trinity, and 
the eternal promise, "I am with vou always." Thechurch 
received its commission from here. Then what a place in 
our hearts it should fill. France can boast of her Auster- 
litz, P^nglaud of her Waterloo, America of her Bunker Hill, 
and the Union of her Appomattox; but, thank God, the 
world mav boast of her Mount Olivet. 

ft' 

The disciples and friends of ('hrist had gathered to this 
place for the final farewell. Anxious spectators moved 
along and added to the crowd awaiting the satisfaction 
of some curiosity. The hum of the busy city is lost in 
anxiety. The crowded streets and thoroughfares of the 
ancient capital of the religious world did not attract His 
followers; but, electrified by His counsel and presence, 
they were absorbed in Him. 

While invoking a heavenly benediction upon them, 
suddenly a supernatural brilliancy enveloped Him ; a char- 
iot of celestial cloud swings at His feet and settles in mid- 
air, and, enshrined in matchless glory. He mounts the 
cloud, and upward through the trackless ether he niakes 
his wav. Sun, moon and stars are left behind in hislii":ht 
till lost to finite eye. Enraptured with his wonderful as- 
cension, his disciples stand gazing upward till an angel 
returns to satisfy their wonder. 

Returning to heaven as the conqueror of death, hell 
and the grave, he stands at the gate and cries, "Lift up 
your heads, oh, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye evei-last- 
ing doors, and let the king of glory come in K' The watch- 
man swings wide the gate, and, amid the shout of cheru- 



I 

148 Negro Stars in allAges of the World. 



bit- lejiions the God of armies and the King of kings 
nijjrches in, and upon that undivided, eternal and inde- 
siiibable throne takes his seat forever. 

Who WHS St. John Chrysostom, the Mouth of Gold? 

He was a. great philosopher and divine, surnanied 
".Mouth of Gold" from the sublime splendor of his elo- 
quenc-e. He was born at Antioch in 347, (A. D.) His 
mother, Anthusa, was a pious woman, wholly devoted to 
her son, who grew up under her loving instruction in an 
earnest, gentle and serious youth, passing through none 
of those wild, dark struggles with sinful passions whirh 
left an ineffaceable impress on the soul of St. Augustine 
and gave a sombre coloring to the whole of his theology. 
He died Sept. 14th, 407 A. D. His works are very numer- 
ous. Of these the most valuable as well as the most 
studied are the Homilies which are held to be superior to 
every thing of the kind in ancient christian literature. 

He was the first christian Bishop under the new gospel 
dispensation. Poet Edwin Johnson comes from the mar- 
ket-place in a drama between Paulus and Glaucus and 
converses as follows: 

Paulus. Whence is this preacher whom the general 
voice declares a new Demosthenes? 

Glaucus. 'Twas here in Antioch his youthful years 
were spent; not heedlessly, like our, out hovered o'er with 
love and counsel, as with angel wings. Like Samuel in the 
temple, he grew up a priest; the robe his saintly mother 
wrought of pure example and of precepts wise investing 
him. Of older men he seemed the natural ruler; but re- 
fused to wear the name of bishop, and retired, when death 
had ended filial duty, to the cell and cave. And now as 
one who wandered far to rob the hills and strain the 



Neoro Stars in xia. Aoiis cjlf the World. 149 

streams of j^oM, ivturus to sj)en(l his prim-ely store, so he 
;<-onies back to utter words so affluent with wisdom and 
with grace. The' nuil.titude prochiim hitn Chrysostoni, 
the Golden Mourh: 

For tny apoh)gv hear hitn tiivself. A giant not m 
titatiie, if in mind. Nor are his words asWows to break the 
will. But rather rays that melt the feelings, fire the pur- 
pose, and consume the dross of self. But yesterday the 
^reat assembly stood responsive to each glance his eye 
shot forth. 

"The changing: thoughts that fell, like light and shade. 
Upon his lips, -or lent his voice its tone." 

The celebrated br Talmage classed him thns in a iiiiv- 
mon on Christ's Garden: "There are others ])laiited in 
Christ's garden who are always ridiant, always impress- 
ive— laore like the roses of deep hue that we occasionallv 
find, called "giants of battle"— the Martin Lathers, St. 
Pauls, Chrysostoms, Wickliffs, Latimer's and Samuel 
Rutherford. What in other men is a spark, in them is a 
conflagration, when they sweat, they sweat great drops 
of blood. When they pray, their prayer takes fire. When 
they preach it is a penticost. When they fight it is a 
Thermopylae, and when they die it is a martyrdom." 
Who is Joseph C. Price, D. D. ? 

He is a native North Carolinian and is honored with 
the presidency of Livingstone College, Salisbury, N. C, 
which he, in a measure, founded under the auspices of the 
A. M. E. Zion Church connection. He was born in Eliza- 
beth City, February 10th, 1854. His father was a slave 
while his mother was free. Early in life he took to books^ 
encouraged by his noble, womanly hearted mother, he ad- 
vanced to the front rank of scholarship. 

After regular attendance upon the Cyprian Episcopal 
School at New Berne, N. C, under the control of a Boston 



150 >iEGKO Stars in all Agkh of the Would. 

Society, to wit: The LoAell Normal School of the tirst 
named place. After teaching public schooLs at various 
places in this State, he entered Shaw University, Raleiiih, 
N. C, in 1878. Upon being converted to the christian reli- 
gion he felt to he under some divine impulse to carry the 
gospel to a wicked world. P\)llowing its silent, yet sal- 
ient behest he returned to his home in New Berne and 
connected himself with the A. M. E. Z. church. In 1879 
he gi-aduated from Lincoln University, delivering the val- 
edictory in the college department. At the annual con- 
ference of the A. M. E. Z. church for North Carolina, he 
was ordained elder and elected as a delegate to the gener- 
al conference held at Montgomery, Alabama, in 1880. 

At the Ecumenical Conference in the city of London, 
Avhere he had gone as a delegate he made a very fine im- 
pression upon the members of that great body of great 
men and women by his masterful efforts as an orator and 

debater. 

Notwithstanding the length of the following arcicle 

which we find in a leading Tennessee Journal, (white) the 
Cumberland Presbjtermn, we shall append it as a worthy, 
yet cursory description of his magnetic, intellectual and 
oratorical powers : 

"During the late prohibition campaign in Tennessee 
the most eloquent and effective address we had the pleas- 
ure of hearing was delivered by the Rev. J C. Price, of 
North Carolina. Mr. Price is a full-blooded negro, whose 
face is so black that gas will not. light it up. He was ed- 
ucated in Lincoln University, Pa., vvhere he spent seven 
years in the study of literature and theology. He is but 
thirty-three years of age. He has had the advantage of 
foreign travel and much observation in his own country. 
He is a man of noble presence and manly bearing. Every 
feature of his dark face and every movement of his power- 



Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. 151 

fill frame indicate strength of character and force of intel- 
lect. His ease and dignity of manner wonld do honor to 
any man. Before an audience he is a marvel of eloquence. 
His voice is as musical as a lute, and his speech as pure as 
that of the classic Everett. His manly presence, his ease 
and grace, his keen and pungent wit, his brilliant and 
glowing sentences, and his intense earnestness place him 
high among the great orators of the age. All who heard 
him speak in this State will bear testimony to the truth 
of what we say of this wonderful man. His appeals to 
his own people were never surpassed, and we doubtif any 
man ever made a more powerful appeal to any people 
than he made to his race in this great struggle. He sees 
that rum is the especial enemy of the black man, and with 
the ardor and passion of a strong and powerful nature hs 
pleads with his race to show their manhood and rise 
above the temptations which threaten to lead the negro 
to ruin. His arguments are original, his illustrations 
striking and apt, his diction magnificent and his enthu- 
siasm overpowering. Thousands of the most cultivated 
and prominent people in Tennessee were thrilled by the 
great orator, and it was the universal verdict that no 
man could surpass his efforts to enlighten and influence 
his race. We have heard nearly all the great temperance 
orators from John B. Gough down, and we have yet to 
hear the man who can speak the English language more 

persuasively or more powerfully than the Rev. J. C. Price. 
It is simply im})ossible to give any adequate account of 
the man's eloquence. Mr. Price is an honor not only to 
the negro but to the human race. You can count on the 
fingers of (jne hand all the orators in the United States 
who can be ranked in the same class with this sable son 
of Africa." 

The author of these pages had occasion to write the 
editor oJ the SUn- of Zion, August, 1886, concerning Dr. 



152 NKGKO' STAKS IX A-I.L A-GES 1)F THK VVoKI.D. 

Pn<eK, speeches in f he towns of Wadeshoro mid Rocking- 
liaiii, N. ('. Here is an extract : 

The wonfiert'iil repoi-ts of his oratory — the lively inci- 
dents and ener<iy of his [)ersonal history — liis being en- 
tirely negro, too, taken together with the farther fact that 
he is a native of North Carolina — all cotisj)ired to }»rodnce 
a stronger desire to hefii- him. 

An aggregf'te of ahout six iumdred nptnrned faces, 
dumbfounded, awe— ;ri'uck, capti\"ated, beamingforth with' 
manifestations of a])pro\al. was a sight not often seen 
hereabouts. Prof. Price is most assuredly an able man. 
and without offense to any one, he is siii generis. In his 
work and sj)eeches with the people he is achieving a' 
highei-, grander state-craft of national beuetit than the 
whole army of average coffee-house politicians could or 
would in a decade of centuries (who as a ru'e, seek office 
merely for the dear people's sake). 

He towers high among the champion orators of this 
or any other age of American history. Indeed he is our ora- 
tor. I admire him for his sterling ability and indomitable 
moral courage. I honor him for historical truths and 
race pride, and 1 love him for what he is and for all that 
he has done and is now doing for our race and the whole 
Southland in general. As Mr. Price descended from the 
i-ostrum a noted white lawyer of this place stepped for- 
ward and grasped his hand and said: "Mr. Price when 1 
had listened, enraptured two or moi-e hours, I expected to 
see you fag or exhaust, but at that moment and to the 
close, you rose higher, like the mounting lark wafted in the 
wealth of her own music, turning ev'er and anon on wings 
of fi-esh delight." On Thursday night he spoke in Rock- 
iiighain to an unusually large, appreciative audience, in- 
cluding some of the profoundest jurists and ablest ijivines 
in the State. Here he was particularly happy in his mas- 



Xkuko Stahs in Ai.i. Agk.s of the W()km>. 15:t 



tci-ly eft()i-t. vanqiiishino- every fear and every power rousing 
into life and action. His was in the highest degree in- 
sti-uctive, beautiful, and impvef^i^ive— tres ntque rotundas 
—like all the pi-oductions of that finished orator, which 
can best be conqirehended, for there is no truer or wor- 
thier description than to call it " Websterian." "His man- 
ner of speech," as Lord Bacon said of the king, "was in- 
deed prince-like, flowingasfromafountain,and yet stream- 
ing and branching into nature's order, full of facility and 
felicity, imitating none and inimitable by any. "i'is idle 
for me to add that his style is charming, elocution perfect, 
and his voice delightfully musical, his argument over- 
whelmingly established the claims advanced for his race- 



154 NEGito Stars in all Ages of the Wokld. 



CHAPTER XIL 



LEGAL FRATERNITY. 



"We have titi-ned our backs upon the past; 
We stand in the present and look to the futui-cv 
The past is lost to us, the future is ours, 
Let us make it a ft-lorousonel" 



"May we discern, unseen before 
A path to higher destinies." 

iVho was General Robert Brovpii Elliott? 

He WM.S a colored State:unan, born in Boston, Massa- 
('hLisetts,< August 11th, 1842. He received his primary edu- 
cation at private schools. In 1852 he entered High Hoi- 
boi-n Academy in London, England. In 1855 he entered 
Eton College, Enoland and graduated in 1S59, studied 
law and practiced his profession until his untimely death. 
He was a memlHM' of the State Constitutional Convention 
of South Carolina in 1S()8. He held a seat in the House 
of liepresentatives of the same State from July 0th, 18<)S 
to October 23d, 1870, and was appointed March 25th, 
1869 Assistant Adjutant General, which position he filled 



>?EGRO Stars in all Acjks ok tiil Would. loo 



'ontil lie wtis elected to the 42(1 Congress, and was Ho-aiii 
•elected to the 48d CoiijiTess hy n Inr^e majority. He died 
in New Orleans August 9th, 1S84, where he was in the 
service of the Ti-easnry Department of the <>overnn)ent. 

It was a vio-orons np|)lieation of the "eternal fitness 
of things" that ])repared General Elliott for the hifjher 
destinies of life. He leaped forward and "bearded the 
lion in his den." He chose the bar with the view of stand- 
ing, like a)i armed knight, between his o])pr-essed people 
and the cupidity of the courts. The law furnishes an 
arena for the pyrotecnicpisplay of one's talents. As a law- 
yer he was true, faithful, constant, honorable in the dis- 
charge of duty— a typical lawyer. He was the first colo- 
i-e(J Attorney General in the United States, to which po- 
^^ition he was elected in 1876 in and for the State of South 
Carolina. His conjely form and genteel manners won for- 
him pleasant allusions, his wise conclusions oii questions 
of law ano State economy challenged the admiraticm of 
the forum as well as the National Congress. As a lawyer 
he was without a superior in the Southland. 

Well might Shakespeare wiite of such a genins: 

•His life was ji:entle and the elements 

So mixed in him that nature might stand up 

.\nd Hny to all the world, 

This is a man." 

In the case of the impeachment of Judge Montgomery 
Moses, Gen. E. said: "The law-abiding sentiment of the 
people is the vital force of the body-politic. Among all 
civilized nations, and in every age, the jniritv of ^he Judf- 
cial tribunal has been an object of profound solicitude, 
and has been invested with the most carefully con- 
sidered safeguards, and the one without which alfothers 
are as "sounding bras and tinkling symbols" is found in 
the spotless purity of the Judge. 

On January 6th, 1874, when the Houseof i{ei)resenta- 
tives had under consideration the Civil Rights Bill, he rose 



i5(> Negro Stars in all Ages of tjik Woklo. 



to the full hei^hth of manhood as he proclaimed aiiiidt^t 
a large, intelligent body of European and American Di])- 
lomats and Congressmen, while the woi-ld gazed upon 
him as the ablest negro defender in a legislative capacity : 
' I legret, sir, that the dark hue of my skin amy lend a 
color to the imputation that I am controlled by motives 
personal to myself in the advocacy of this great national 
justice, Sir, the motive tliat impels me is restricted by 
no such narrow boundary, but is as broad as your con- 
stitution. I advocate it, sir, because it is right. The bill, 
however, appeals not only to your justice, but it demands 
a response from your gratitude." In this new position 
he very early gave evidence of his ability as a skilful ])ar'- 
liamentarian, and a ready deoater as well as a legislator. 
Mr. 13. A. Straker says of him : "In his speeches his logic 
was forcible, his ])ropositions sound and his arguments 
conclusive; and when it was necessary to stir the ire of 
his opponent by satire he made him feel as if in a hornet's 
nest," 

Elliott, like all other great men, was sui generic, and 
a man of rare y)owers. He was a perfect intelleclnal acro- 
bat. Like the surges of the Mississii)pi, when aroused he 
moved all abreast before him, concentrating and turning 
all lesser streams and rivers into his sweeping channel. 

He was not afraid to meet the stoutest Democrat 
and measure arms with him in a political discussion, nor 
■was he ever known to leave the arena without the dis- 
comfiture of his opponent." 

Who is John Francis Quurles ? 

He was a distinguished Negro lawer of the State and 
Citv of New York. The most reliable test within the realm 
of thought by which to estinmte the mental capacity of 
aiiv race is the iudicial discernment as seen in tlic career of 



NiooRo Staks i.\ a I.I. A(^i:s of tih: Worj.d T57 



some ofits leii'nl niiiids. It is liy the nr,<i-in,o- of different 
nnaloii-ies; the iiKKstei-fiil contention :\\ the P)ai-;'the com- 
parison, adjustment and rejonciliatioii of one point with 
anothei- that the sauarity and leoal a'-umen of contending- 
counsel as well as the wisdom of the Coni-t is seen and ex- 
ercised. 

Indeed, when a lawyer is })erplexed with a case that 
falls not fairly within the ])rovisions of any existing- stat- 
ute or a])proved decision and for which his file of devests 
affords no y)rec,edent, it is then that the powei-so? the mind 
bristling- vividly with lej2:al learnin<i' dives into the inti-i- 
eate beauties of analogy, discovers and j)r()ves the corres- 
pondence between his own and other cases. 

It was this energetic research — this love of discriminate 
investigation — this insatiate restiveness to illustrate and 
demonstrate fundamental truths in connection with the 
conventional and national rights of men that entitle the 
Honorable John Francis Qnarles of New York 'to rank 
high among the proudest judicial minds who did battle 
before the able bench and bar of the cosmopolitan city. 

He was an able expounder of the l-iw— highly educated 
In pi'ivate life at home he «'as "the prince of good feh 
lows"'— and all through his eventful life, from childhood in 
knee-pants s])orting in gay summer on Geoi-gia"s balmy 
plains or in the International Conits, in Washnigtion or 
Europe, he was the same staunch and sturdy craft, heart 
of oak from keel to taffrail— a paragon of ])urity. 

John Francis Qnarles, a colored lawyer whose office 
was at H18 Broadway, New York City, died at his home 
in P'lushing, Wednesday, January 28th, of an acute at- 
tact of pneumonia. Mr. Quarles had been ill for sometime 
from an irritable stomach, but he left his sick bed to go to 
Albany to help secure the election Of William M. Evarts to 
the United States Senate. He returned a week ago, and 



158 Nkguo Stars in all Agks of thk Woki.d. 

was cuiii])elle(] to take his bed ajiaiti. It was not iintil 
Tiiesdav afternoon, however. that he dis])laye(l syniptons 
of pneumonia. 

He was born in slavei-y at Athinta,Ga., thirty-eio-ht 
years a^io. His father was a preacher of distinction. The 
son was bright, and was made a. pet in his master's family. 
After the war, thi-ong'h theinfluen<-e of Charles Sumner, he 
was entered at Westminister ('olle^e, Pennsylvania, where 
it is said, he oraduted at the head of his class. He studied 
law iinrler thedirection of ('harles Sumner in Washingtion. 
It is said he was the first colored man that was ever ad- 
mitted to the bar as far South as the Capital, in 1.S70 
President Grant appointed him Consul to Port Mahoii, 
rhe capital of Minorca, one of the Baleraic Islands. He 
served durinir Grant's term, and, at his own request, he 
was transferred by President Hayes to Malaga, a more 
important and profitable post. While at Port Mahon he 
married Mai-ie Jacqueminot, a daughter of the French 
Consul at that port, and a granddaughter of Napoleon's 
Marshal of the same name. 

He resigned and returned to this' country in the 
spring of ISSO, just in time to participate in the Garfield 
campaign. He opposed the nomination of Garfield, and 
used his influence among the colored delegates from the 
South for Blaine. In lf^82 Secretary of the Treasury 
Sherman appointed him special Commisioner to visit the 
United States Consuls on the Spanish coast. In the 
recent campaign he was an active supportei' of Mr. Blaine. 
He felt very much depressed when Mr. Blaine was de- 
feated. 

Among the criminals that he defeated were Wlliara 
Leighton, a mulatto, who killed his mistress in Twentv- 
s<;ventn street, about two years ago, and Charles H. 



Nb(}Ro Stars in ai-l Ages of thk World. ir)i> 

Rugg, the murderer of Mrs. Ma3'bee and her daughtei- in 
Oyster Bav, L. I., about a, year ago. He had just taken 
Rugg's case to the Court of Ap[)eals where he was to 
ai-gue it next week. He also made himself a warm friend 
of Cadet Whittakei-, who, after his trial at West Point 
and his court martial in New York City, made his home 
at Mr. Quarles's house. He was a member of the Queen 
County Bar Association. 

Mi-s. Quarles was so overcome by grief that no ar- 
rangements were nmde for his funeral, but it is likely that 
his remains will be sent to Atlanta. He left no children- 
It is supposed he was worth about f o.OOO. He leaves a 
large law library. Mrs. Quarles has a brother who is a 
Colonel in the French army, and is at present in China, 
and another brother a real estate broker in Paris. 

'"If thou saidst I am not peer. 
To lord in Scotland here, 
Lovviand or highland, far or near, 
Lord Angus, thou hast lied." 

Judge Jonathan J. Wright, of the Supreme Court S. C. 

Ex-Associate Justice Wright, of the Supreme Court of 
South Carolina, died at his home in this city on Wednes- 
day night Feb. 18, 1885. He had been suffering for sever- 
al years from consumption, and for the past two months' 
had been in an extremely critical condition. In his death 
there has passed from the stage another of the most con- 
spiciuous figures in the Revolution of 1876. In view of 
the prominent ]mvt he took in the events preceding the 
downfall of the Chamberlain Government, a review of 
some of the incidents of his careei- will be interesting. 

Judge Wi-ight- was born in Luzerne County, Pennsyl- 
vania, February 11, 1840. He was the son of a farmei- 
who removed to Susqueha'ina County, Pennsylvania, 
when the subject of this sketh was quite young. He was 



1()() Xk(;u() Staus in .\ia. Ahes of the Wowi-d. 

iiidiistrions ;iii(l aiiiliitioijs. and saved np eiKinii'li inonev 
to attend tlie I.amasten'an Univeisity at Ithaca, New 
York, for which lie had prepared hiniseh' in the district 
S'hools ill Pennsylvania. After retni'nin<>' home he read 
law in the oHice of Bently, Fitch & Bentley at Montrose, 
meanwhile teachinii- school npoTi a first-class certiticate 
which had been oranted to him bv the conntv board of 
examiners. He read law in the office of .Tud<i'e 0. Collins, 
at Wilkesbarre. Pa., where he also tRn^ht school. 

In 1S65 he was sent to South (^Jarolina by the Ameri- 
can Missionary Association to organize schools. He land- 
ed in Beanfoi-t and after i-ernaining- there a year returned 
to Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to the Bar in 
Aiig-ust l'S(36, beino; uj) to that time the first and onh' 
colored man ever adnntj^ed to practice la w in that State. 
He returned to South Carolina in the same year with an 
appointment from Gen. 0. O. Howard as leo-al adviser of 
i-efuji-ees r^nd freedmen. He established his headquarters 
at Beaufort and continued to act in that capacity until 
liis election to the Constitutional (\)nvention of 1S68, 
w lien he resi<>ned. Soon after the adjournment of the con- 
vention, in the proceed inos of which he took an important 
])art, he was elected to the State Senate fi-om Beaufort 
i-onntv. 

Col; A. K. McClure, in writiufi; some sketches of the 
members of the Le<»-ishitnre for the New York Tribune, 
said: "The most notable neg'ro in ihe Legislature is Sena- 
tor Wright. He is a full blooded negro, of medium size, 
with a finely chiseled face and handsomely developed 
head.'" The New Y^)rk Aa^/o/; in speaking of him, said: 
"He is said to be the best educated negro in the State, 
and enjoys the reputation of being the ablest man of his 
racc. He stands nearly six feet in height and has a head 



Negro Stars in all Agkh of the World. IBl 



■8in<;ulni-lv thin niul vei-v hiiili in tlic iviiioii of benevolence 
and self-esteem."' 

In February, 1870. Wiight was elected Associate Jus- 
tice of the State Supreme Court to till the unex})ired term 
of Solomon L. Hoge, who has been elected to Cou- 
gi-ess. 

After his election to the Supreme Bench the Union 
League of Charleston, of which Tom Mackey was j)resi- 
dent, passed resolutinos congratnlating the General As- 
.senibly uj)on its wise choice and pronouncing it as the 
judgment of the League that he was "'the (\V)right man 
in the (W)right place."' The Charleston News, com- 
menting upon his election said: "As Senator Wright 
was industrious. He spoke more, perha[)s, than any of 
the other Senators and generally very clearly. He now 
holds the highest posititm held by a colored uian in the 
Unite*'' States." 

The honorary degree of L L. D, was conferred upon 
Judge Wright by the Avery College at Allpgheny City, 
Pennsylvania. 

I'pon the expiration of his first tei'ni he was re-elected 
to the Supreme Bench for the full tt^rm of six years and 
qualified December, 15, 1871. 

In c(ninection with his resignation from the Supreme 
Bench, the following letter from Governor Hampton to 
kludge Wright is now published for the first time: 

Columbia, S. C.. August 6, 1877. 

To J. J. Wright, Judge, &c. — Dear Sir: Your favor of 
this date, covering your resignation of the office of Asso- 
ciate Justice of the Supreme Ojurt of this State, isathand 
and contents noted. 

I jiccept the same as a tribute on your i»ai1 to the 
quietude of the State, and as in no sense an acknowledge- 



Sk.y,U'> .Stars in ai.L Ages of thk Woijld. 

meut of the truth of the ehai-ges which have been made 
a<>fiii)st voii. 

Respectfully yours^ 

Wade Hamptcjn, Gi^nernoi-. 

Tiie Court of Sessions Adjourns in Honor of his Memory. 

In the Court of (general Sessions yesterday W. J. 
Bowen, Esq., announi-ed to the Court the death of Jiidge 
Wrig-lit, and moved that the Court stand adjourned as a 
tribute to the memory of the deceased. In makinji' the 
motion Mr. Bowen took occasion to pay an eh^qiient and 
feeling- tribute to the life and services of the dead .Iudi»e. 
Although not associated with him to any great exteiit at 
the Bar, yet from his fi-iendly and social lelations with 
the deceased he could bear high testimony to his domestic 
virtues, which conld scai-cely be said to be mari-ed by his 
few human fiailties. Mr. Bowen's eulogy was short, but 
was deh'vei-ed with eai-nest impressiveness. 

The motion was seconded by J. W. Polite, Esq., who 
alluded to that particulai- trait of character of the deceas- 
'• 1 which always induced him to devote so much of his 
(iMie to the elevation and amelioration of the condition of 
the younger generation of his race. H ^ also touched upon 
the notable virtue of charity which characterized the 
i-elations of JudgeWright to his fellow men. 

S. J. Lee, Es(|., also warudy seconded Mr. Bowen's 
motion. His long acquaintance with the deceased, both 
in j)ublic and private life, he said, enabled hiu) to speak 
more familiarly of his personal history, and he was fortu- 
nate in the resj)ect that he could heartily endoi-se the sen- 
timents uttered by the preceding sj)eakers. He laid much 
stress on the services of Judge Wi-ight to the ])eople of this 
State in 187G-77, and spoke of such services as sufficient 
to entitle the deceased to the gi-atefnl niemoi-y of the cit- 



NlOIIIiO STAK.-^ in Al.h A'JKS Ol-' TdiG ',V'<M{1,!). l('>-) 



izens of the State. Mr. Lee tlien in an elaborate eulogy 
vindicated the title of Judo-e Wri<iht to he called a (chris- 
tian and a in;in of eniinentability, and a ti-iie and constant 
friend to his people. 

Uj)on the hearning of these remarks Jnd,:^^' Aldrich, in 
compliance with the terms of the motion, ndjoni-ned the 
Conrt until this mornin<»-. 
Who is A. C. J. Taylor, ofTope'.n, K.->n ? 

He is a practicing lawyer in Topeka. He' vvas horn 
in Macon, Ga., 185G of slave pai-ents. For a few years 
after attaining anility to "tote his own skillet/' he ram- 
bled off to Indiana, seeking theknowledge that afterwards 
made him a man, whore he attended school, and finally 
entered Princeton University where he coniy)leted his 
studies. He thereupon went to Kansas, opened an office 
in Topeka — after tilling st^veral importand j)nplie stations 
he was elected by a very flattering majority as Corpora- 
tion Attorney for the ('ity aboved named. His practice is 
large and profitable. 

Upon the death of Hon. Moses A. Hopkins, in 188(). 
President Cleveland appointed Mr. Taylor as Minister res- 
ident and Consul General to the government of Liberia. 
West Afj'ica, which position he held until the last of the 
winter season of 1888, when he voluntarily resigned, 
ostensibly to meet the urgent demands forhislegal services 
in this country. He enjoys to-day a lucrative practice 
before the City, State and United States Courts, including 
the Supreme tribunal of the nation. 

In politics he is conservative, Supporting the Demo- 
cratic nominee for the presidency. 
Who is Hon. Geo. H. White, of New Berne, X. C? 

He is one of the Solicitors, or State's Attorney, of the 
State of North (varolina^ He was elected to tiiis verv re- 



MA !<tGEo Staks in ai.i> Ages of the World. 



sjjoiisihle position l»y <i lai-p;e majority vote in the 2n(l. 
Judicial district, (•om])risin^- some of tlie wealthiest and 
most intelligent counties in the State. He was the ivgulai- 
Re])ijblican nominee, but a so-called Independent Kej)ubli- 
can and an unconjpromising Democrat ran against him. 
The returns showed that his majority was larger than the 
entire vote reeei\'ed \)y both of the other two gentlemen. 

He is about 35 years of age, was educated at the 
Wiiitin Normal Institue, Lumberton, N. C, Prof. D. P. 
Allen, Principal. He was adnjinitted aftei- a thorough 
examination by the- Supreme Court to practice law in all 
the Courts of the State. He has been honored more than 
once to a i^eat in the State Senate. At ])resent he is the 
onlv colored Solicitor, or vStates prosecuting attorney in 
the United States of America. 

In comple.xion he is bi-own. In statue he is at niediuu). 
moderate in dr-ess and respected by all who have the 
pleasure of his accpiainta nee. 

Who John H. CoIJws, of Halifax, N. C? 

He is a. successful lawyer in p]astern North Carolina, 
lives in Halifax Co., and preceded Mr. White as Solicitor 
for eight years in succession. 

Colored Men us Jiintis, by Wjlli.jm H;inriili;il Thonins. 

Trial by jury is oue of the primary and sovereign 
rights of American citizenshi]); the bulwark of personal 
liberty, the medium of justice between mati and man, and 
the foundation of judicial j)rocedi]re in all civilized nations. 
The statements enibraced in thisarticle a])jily to the jury 
system of the South in answerto some recent criticisms on 
negro juries, that appeared in ihnNorth American Review, 
which affirmed that negroes made inconjjjetent jurors,' and 
should be set aside: that they possessed no judicial dis- 



Negho Stars in all Ages of the Wohed. 165 



tcniiiieiit , and in the trial of eases, are chiefly the tool ol 
<letna^c)^ne attorneys. These are ^rave accusations, 
which, if true, justly render neg,ro juries censurahle and 
unworthy to exercise such functions. Asa matter of fact, 
colored men represent but a small percentage of the whole 
nuniher of jurors impaneled; a venire composed exclusive- 
ly of colored persons woidd be a phenomenon in a South- 
ern court. The ratio of actual jurors bears no ap])reci- 
able ])ro})ortion to the colored population elijiible for such 
servi( e ; nnder these circumstances, conceding- the truth of 
these ciiticisras, the influence of colored jurors in the prac- 
tical a<lministration of law would not effect the final de- 
termination of causes. 

But ai'e these thing's so? Are colored men morally 
and intellectually incapable of exercisinji: the duties of ju- 
rors? It is admitted that there is a radical difference 
between the jury verdicts of the two races. Many white 
men, when e.n^ao'ed in such service, are governed by race 
prejudice, and biased by partisan motives. In the deter- 
mination of issues between colored and wdiite suitors, 
such juries invariably find in favor of white persons with- 
out refei-ence to the merits of the case. The unsupported 
statement of a white witness will carrv more weight with 
an avei-aj2,e jury than the sworn testimony of a score of 
credible negroes. A white man's word is infallible, and is 
not to be controverted bv a negro's. So reasons court 
and jury. The spirit of caste dominates all judicial pro- 
cedure in presentment, trial and sentence. 



In contract, colored men are prdnstaking, conscien- 
tious and reliable in jury service. They are not purchas- 
alile factors, and in making up their verdicts are not actu- 



166 Negko Stars in all Age« ov the VV*o!<:m>. 



•a ted by a spirit of revenge or ignorant bigotry, but rather 
an instinctive sense of the equities of a case. Colored ju- 
rors sometimes exercise those prerogatives inherent in 
.su<-h functions, and discredit testimony offered bv whit^^ 
men when it is known that the evidence submitted is un- 
trne. It is then that manly independence involves cen- 
sure, while servile acquiescence wins ''omniendation. Col- 
ored jurors are frequently coerced, by methods of intimi- 
dation, in conclusions at variance with their honest con- 
victions. Such methods are re})tt4iensible; the negro 
should always vindicate his manhood by sturdy inde- 
pendence, uninHnenced by cajolery or animadversion. 

Some instances of the efficiency and honesty of negro 
jurors are herewith submitted. The ret^ent case of Mur- 
phy vs. Ford, and others, in New Orleans, La., is fresh in 
the public mind. The deceased, Murphy, \v:^s shot, with- 
olit warning or j)rovication, in cold blood. The testi- 
mony adduced was conclusive as to the gilt of Ford and 
his accomplices. The jury stood eleven for acquittal and 
onefor conviction, the latter a colorwl man. Eleven white 
men are eager to condone a brutal murder ; the negro 
alone was brave enough to insist uj)on a vindication of 
justice. Comment on the integrity of the white jurors is 
unnecessary. Arecenttrial involving a similar homicide has 
just been terminated in Abbeville, S. C. 1 am advised that 
the case was devoid of mitigating ci re unj stances, and 
when it was given to the jury ten white men promptly 
voted for acquittal, while two colored jurcn-s stood out 
for conviction. Of ourse a mistrial was the 'result, as in 
the previous case; but the vote of the colored jurors vvns 
a rare act of courage in a lawless community. ! note a 
third case. During the trial of a civil suit in West Vir- 
ginia, in which the plaintiff was a wealthy white man, lie 
petitione«l the court for a colored jtiry. alleging that it 



Neg-HO StAKS in AM- AGlCS OF THE WoKl.D 167 



was iiii})()ssible to obtain justice at the hands of a white 
jufv. The nejifo is a law-abi(lirij>: citizen who may [>rove 
as a eonsei-vator of hivv, the source of inspiration and the 
agency of judicial reform in the South. My own expe- 
rience as a lawyer justifies tlie statement that colored men 
as jurors are as reliable as white men in i-eaching sound 
le<i,al conclusions; that life and property are e<jually as 
saff' in their hands, while their verdicts are freer from 
race prejudice and rarely influenced by mercenary 
considerations. I should be pleased if the facts war- 
ranted a similar conclusion in favor of the white jurors of 
the South, but 1 fear another generation will arise before 
such testimony can be truthfully recorded. 

IVhif vyas George Lewis^ Baffin, LL.B.? 

He was one of the ablest jurists in the State of Massa- 
<-husetts; rising as he did frotn the onerous duties of a 
barber in B(jston to high judicial honors by dint of study, 
moral courage, a mother's influence and a restless docile 
inind. 

The subject of this sketch was born of a free parent- 
age, G, W. and N. L. Rutfiin, in Richmond, Va., Decenjber 
16,1884. By force of our "ijeculiar" Southern "institu- 
tion," he was cari-ied bv his affectionate mother, to Bos- 
ton where he might be enabled to ac<]uire the highest 
moral and intellectual development. The barber shop 
was both a living and a schooling for him. Here between 
tht' click of his scissorsand the rustling pages of his book he 
eked out a competency .for himself and his mother's family 
and at the same time built uj) a scholarship broad and 
brilliant in all its parts. 

In the olHce of Jewell & Gaston he read law^ and fin- 
ished hiscoui-sein Howard University, Washington, D. C. 

From his resident ward, Mr. R. was elected in 1S69 
and '70 by the popular vote to the Legislature of his 



KiS XEiiKO STAHS l.V ALI, AGEK OF TIIK Ti'oUM*. 

;idoj)ted State in which capat-ity he reflected credit ii|)Or 
himself, his constituency and his race. From that time he 
held many positions of honor and trust. 

When General B. F. Butler become oovernor of tlie 
State, he nomsnated the honorable Mr, R. as ind<>:e of the 
District Court of Chai-leston. This was November 7. 
1.S83. Three other eminent o-entlemen were seekino- the 
place, but lawyer Huffin moved ahead and was sworn in 
by Governor Butler hiniself. He married a Boston lady 
of culture and character. P'our livin.o- children testifies to 
the tittinji- marrital relation, devotion and affection of 
their departed father. He was a member of the twelth 
Baptist church of Boston. 

He was an earnest christian and died, November 19, 
18Sf), triumphant in christian hope. 



WEALTH AND BUSINESS. 

Can you instance a few names of individuals and firms 
showing- the wealth, business tact and success of the ne- 
jj:ro in the U. S. Yes. From the compiled exhibit of Mr, 
J. W. Cromwell, editor of the Peoples' Advocate, Wash- 
ington, D. C,, I will note the following;: 

The Carolinas take the lead in the number of well-to 
do negroes. North Carolina has twenty who ai-e worth 
from $10,000 to |30,000 each. In South Carolina the 
negroes own $10,000,000 woi-th of.pro[)erty. In Charles- 
ton fourteen men represent $200,000. Thomas R. Smalls 
■m worth $18,000, and Charles C. I.eslieis worth $12,000. 
The family of Noisettes, truck farmers, are worth $150,- 
000. In the city savings bank the negroes have $124-.- 
936.85 on deposit. One man has over $5,000. Here- 



Negko Stahs 1x\ all Ages of the Wokld. lf>9 



cently bouglit a |10,000 plantation and paid 17,000 iu 
cash. 

In Philadelphia John MeKee is worth half a million- 
He owns 400 houses. Several are worth |100,000 each. 

The negroes of New York own I'rorn five to six million 
dollars' worth of real estate. P. A. White, a wholesjile 
<lrnaai&t is worth a (luarter of a milHon, and has an an- 
nual business of |200,0<'0. Catherine Blae-K is worth 
$150,000. 

In New Jersey the negroes own |2, 000,000 worth of 
real estate. Baltimore has more negro home-owners than 
anv other lartie citv. Nineteen men are worth a total of 
1800,000. John Thomas, the wealthiest, is worth about 
1150,000. Less than one hundred negroes in Washing- 
ton are worth a total of $1,000,000. 

In Louisiana the negroes pay taxes on $15,000,000, 
in New Orleans and $80,000,000 in the State. lonre La- 
fon, a French quadroon, is worth $1,000,000. The Mer- 
cer Bros., clothiers, carry a stock of $.300,000. Missouri 
has twenty-seven negroes worth $1,000,000, in amounts 
ranging from $2o,ooo to $25,ooo, 

The richest colored womon in the South, Amanda 
Eubanks, made so by the will of her white father, is worth 
$4:00,000 and lives near Augusta, Ga. Chicago, the home 
of eighteen thousand colored people, has three firms in 
business whose proprietors represent $2o,ooo each, one 
•$15,ooo, and nine $lo,ooo. The Eastlake Furniture 
Company is worth $2o,ooo. A. J. Scott has $35, ooo in- 
vested in the livery business, and is worth |loo, ooo, in- 
cluding a well-stocked farm in Michigan. Mrs. John 
Jones and Richard Grant are worth $7o,ooo each. A. G. 
White of St. Louis, formerly purveyor of the Anchor Line 
of seta mers after financial reverses, baa, since the age of 45 



170 NEciKo Staks in all Ages of thp: Wokld. 

7'etrieved his fortunes and aeeumnlated f 3o,oo(j. Mrs. M. 
Carpenter, a San Francisco colored woman, had a bank 
account of $5,000, and Mrs. JNIary Pleasants has an in- 
come from eight houses in San Francisco, -v ranch near 
San Mateo, and floo,ooo in government bonds. In 
Marysville, Cah, twelve individuals are the owners of 
ranches valued in the aggregate fro:n -f 15o,()00 to -flSo,- 
000. One of them, Mrs. Peggy Bredan, has besides a 
bank account of f4o,ooo. 

These statistics show that the brother in black is 
making some headway in the world. He is learning to 
"tote his own f^killet." 

The following is culled from Mr. John K. Hawkins, 
work: "Africans in America, &c." 

"One of the best evidences of progress of the coloi-ed 
people of this city is their rapid accumulation of wealth. 
It would be difficult to say just how much projjerty is 
owned by them, or how much they pay in taxes into the 
city treasury, but the amount is known to be large. 

"The well-to-do portion of the colored people take 
very little interest in politics, preferring to attend strictly 
to their business, and lay up something for a rainy day. 

"The richest coloi-ed man in the city, John McKee, is 
not known to be colored exctept by his neighbors and rel- 
atives. He is said to be the owner of more than two hun- 
dred houses ill this city, and is woi-th between f 2oo,ooo 
and f 3oo,ooo. 

"Mr. McKee is a real estate dealer, and lives in amod- 
est little three-story house at lo3o Lombard street. He 
.has a small office in the basement of his house, ai-ound 
Avhich are placed rows of shelves. Upon these, methodi- 
cally arranged, are little paste-board boxes, numbered 
and labeled, containing the deeds to his |>i-of)erty and 



Ne(;ro Stars in all Ages of the World. 171 



other valuable ])apei-s. He makes a specialty of inii)i-ov- 
ini>- and buil(linf>- up the lower part of the first ward. He 
has pul up ill that portion of the ward, known as the 
•'Neck," more than twenty houses, within the last two 
years. 

''The principal street in this newly built up settlement 
is name McKee street, after him. McKee Avenue, in the 
fiftli ward, and McKee's court, near Broad street, in tlie 
seventh ward, also take their names from him. 

"While Mr. McKee is a man of very little eduption, 
he does not employ a clerk, and when asked how he 
mana<;e(l to attend to his enormous business, he replied : 
'I keep it all in my head.' Mr. McKee is not known to 
be a man who<>i\es liberally to charitable purposes, but 
he sometimes opens his purse to benevolence, first exact- 
in^;, however, ajiromisethat nothing- shall besaid about it 
A few years auo he was elected Colonel of a colored rej2,-- 
iment, and out of consideration of this compliment he 
uniformed and equipped the eight hundred men. When 
the reaiment was disbanded a few months afterwards, he 
lost all interest in military matters, but he still carries his 
title as Colonel, with pride. Mr. McKee is an inveterate 
smoker. 

"William Still, who resides in the la.ige and handsome 
resideu' e 244 south Twelfth street, is another rich colored 
jnan. His wealth is estimated at $2oo,ooo, and there are 
those claiming to know, who say that this figure is too 
small by |r>o,ooo. Mr Still is a coal dealer, and o^wns a 
yard on Washington Avenue, where he keeps several !nen 
emploved. In the busy season he runs as many as a 
dozen cai-ts. Mr. Still made his first mcmey as a sutler, at 
Camp William Penn, during the war, when he is said to 
have realized (piite a fortune. His position as Secretary 



172 ^EGEO Staks in all Ages ok the Worli>. 



of the Underground Railroad befoie the war jj^ave him the 
()])]i()itnnity to become aec^uainted Nvith persons of prom- 
inence and influence, who afterwards secured for him the 
ap])ointment as sutler. When the war closed, he embarken 
in his present business, and his fortune has steadily in- 
creased. Mr. Still is a man of much more than ordinary 
ability and a few years a<i-o published a history of the Under- 
iiiound Railroad. The maintenance of the 'Home for 
Af^ed and Infirm Colored Persons in West Philadelphia, is 
lar<»ely due tohisefforts. While Mr, Still is not known as a 
politician, he has been active in more than one cam]>aign. 
jieuerally actin<i- with the Independents. 

''Robert Purvis' wealth is variously estimated to he 
between |loo,ooo and $150,000. He lives inafour-story 
residence at the northwest corner of Sixteenth and Mount 
Vernon streets. Mr. Puivis is one of the few colored nien 
of the country wdio have never known what poverty is. 
He has alwavs been surrounded bvliixurv and refinement, 

W 1.' • 

He at one time tried the expensive experiment of runninu- 
a model farm a few miles out of the city, l)ut was wise 
enoujj:,h to _i;ive uj) before the fortune was gone. Having 
neither taste nor inclination for a business life, he has con- 
tented himself with a life of efise. Mr. Purvis enjoys a 
high social position among white people. 

"Isaiah C. Wears, who only a few years ago was a 
poor hai-bei-, htis taken such wise advantage of his 
oj)purtunities that he is now worth |5o,ooo. He is a 
real estate broker and j)olitician. 

"Mr. Wears was a ne[»he\v of Joshua P. Eddy, who 
died about two years ago,leaving property valued at about 
•f loo,ooo. For several years before the old man died, he 
was unable to attend to his business, and Mr. Wears 
acted as his agent. At the death of Mr. Eddy, Mr. 



Xkgro Staks in \\a. Agks of the World. 17:T 



Wears caiue into the possession of the larger jiart of the 
])roj)erty, through a bequest, and he is now adding to his 
fortune by very shrewd speiulations. Mr. Wears had 
veiy few school advantages in his younger days, but of 
late years he has applied himself to study, and is knowo 
as a man of wide information. He is one of the most for- 
<nble camjiaign speakers that the colored race has yet pro- 
duced, and his services are in constant deniano during po- 
litical contests. 

''Of the rich colored women in this city, Mrs. Jones, 
widow of the late well known caterer, Henry Jones, on 
Twelfth street, below Walnut, stands first. Her wealth 
was left to her by her husband, and she is known to be 
worth more than sixty thousand dollars. She carries on 
the business of catering, still serving the families her hus- 
band served in his day, and it is supposed thatshe is yearly 
adding to her fortune. 

"Jno. D. Lewis, the only colored lawyer in the citv, 
and a practitioner in all the courts, is a man of wealth, 
and were it not for his expensive tastes, he could easily 
live without his practice at the bar. H(i is the owner of 
pro])erty to the value of forty thousand dollars, all pay- 
ing investments. Mr. Lewis made his money as a to- 
bacco manufacturer, in Toronto, Canada. He afterward 
studied law in Boston, came on hei*e, and was admitted 
to the bar. He has been successful in building up a hand- 
fsome legal business, and is said to be making njoney. 

"Of the colored caterers, who have made money in 
their line, Chas. Franklin has perhaps been the most suc- 
cessful. He lives in good style on Lombard street, above 
Broad. Mr. Franklin owns several valuaole houses, and 
his wealth is computed at forty thousand dollars. He is 



174 Negko Staks in ai,i. Age.-! of thi: World. 



takino- life easy, and he seldom serves a party unless it is 
.uiveii by someone of his old established customers. 

"Thos. J. Bowers, living- on Tenth street, below Loni- 
bai-(l, is another colored n>an of means. Just what he is 
W()i-th is not known, even by his most intimate friends. 
He was left monev and ])i-oi)ertv bv his father. P>v«ellino- 
coal and sjieculatino- ill real estate, he is thought to be 
worth from twenty-five to thirty tlioiisand doUars at the 
])res(Mit time. He o'oes to Saratopi every season foi- his 
health 

"Of the younger colored men who are niakiao- nionev 
by sti-ict attention to business, Thomas Bolino-, a fjoni- 
merchant, on Lombard Street, above Ninth, is probalily 
the most succes-'ful. The business which he established a 
few yeai-s ago in a small way has grown until Mr. Boling 
isenabled ton)ake a handsome bankdej)Osit every month. 
He is worth not less tlian twenty thousand dollai-s. 

'•W. G. Harvey is another colored man who pays ta.\- 
es on a large amount oi real estate. He is worth more 
than fifty thousand dollars. He is a shoemaker, and still 
follows his trade. His rej)ntation as one of the finest 
workers on ladies' shoes iii the (ity, has kept him con- 
stantly employed in this paying line of business, and he is 
still making money at it. He lives in a neat little house at 
1124 Carpenter Street, which he owns, and he seldom 
leaves his store except to collect his rents from his other 
])roperties, or make a deal in real estate. 

At the celebration of the twentieth anniversai-y of the 
orgai]ization of the colored schools of Lexington, Kv., a 
few days ago. Col. John 0. Hodges, su])erintendent of the 
public schools, among other things, said : •' Li ISGo thei-e 
were 8,956,000 colorful pe()i)le in the South, without a 
single school : now thei-e are 7, 000,000 people with 12.- 



Nkgro Stars in all Agks of thk World. M'> 



ooo schools. 10,000 teachers with 1 ,oo().ot)o ])iij)ils — mh 
averao-e of Go pupils to each teacher — and 10,000 pui)ils 
in the coh)i"ed hi«i,h schools. The colored people in the 
South now have So uewspapei-s, 2,000.000 chunh mem- 
bers, donate annually .f^',7oo,ooo foi- church ])ni-poses, 
own 5,000,000 acres oflaiid, produce annually 1,000, 000 
bales of cotton more than they did befoi-e the war, have 
an average deposit of |!'55,ooo,ooo in the bank, and own 
taxable yjroperty assessed at $1 00,000. 

A Prosperous Colored Planter. 

When the Avar was over Barney Houston, colored, 
who lives in Centreville township, near Anderson, did not 
have a c(jp])er. He was over 00 years old, but his age 
had not subdued his enterprising and industrious habits. 
After renting land for a few seasons his partner, Henry 
McGowan, coloi-ed, and himself determined to buy the 14o 
acre farm which the were cultivating. The o^vner asked 
#l,9oo for it. These two colored men had two horses, 
and after making the first pavment they worked steadily 
and persistently season after season until they owned the 
property. Finally a division of the land was made, 
"Uncle" Barney, as he was called, taking fifty acres. He 
has a nice house upon his little farm now, and is 
only a shoi't distance from Anderson. He has just been 
offered four thousand dollars for his property, which he 
refused, as he values it at five thousand dollars. He does 
not owe a dollar now, and can get all the credit he wants. 

We will venture the assertion that this colored man 
didn't fool away much of his time over politics.— Charles- 
ton News r'inri Courier. 

"Besides these few mentioned, there are more than a 
dozen other colored men and women in the citv who are 



ITfi Negro Stars rx ax.l Ages of the Worm>. 

worth upwards of twenty thousand dollai-s, and this 
Bumber is constantly increasinjo:;." 

Hon J. €. Alman of Bennettsville. S. C, is listed at 
twenty thousand dollars in real'estate. Was 6 years 
Stat€ Represenatative in his natiye State of South Caro- 
lina. Is a middle aired christian gentleman. No one 
more than he understands the beaut}' of the daily cour- 
tesies and little kindnesses which fr:o so far toward pleas- 
ant living. The Lincoln heirs of Dallas are said to have 
become the owners of |14,ooo,ooo recently by bequest- 
Mr. W. C. Coleman, of Concord, N. C. is a gentleman of 
means and intelligence. He is a successful merchant, is 
also proprietor ot a feed and sale stables and is reputed tr> 
own the finest horses in the State. 

There are in many Southern cities many handsome 
residences owned by colored men, and many of them ex- 
hibit a tact for business and accumulating wealth nut 
found in thousands of whites whose education is far su- 
perior, and whose experience in business extends far back 
beyond the time when these colored men were released 
from servitude. 



Nkuiu) Stars in aij. Aci:^ of thic World 177 

THE THEORY AND PliACTlCE OF AMERICAN 

CHRISTIANITY." 



By The Rey. Dh. B. T. Tanner, 



Read in "the NHtioiuiI Conference of Colored Men of the United 
States:' nt Nashville, Tenn., May 6th 18T9, by Mi-s. Dr. Wylie, 
of Philadelphia. 

Chi-istianity is the reliiiion of the I^ord Jesus Christ. 
American Christianity isthatphase ofit found in America, 
meaning by America the United States; forit is a siji-nifii-ant 
fact that this heterogeneous nation has audacionsly pos- 
sessed itseh" of the continental appellation. Before, how- 
ever, we address ourselves directly to the subject present- 
ed, it is in place to re'-ognize the fact that American Chris- 
tianity in many of its phases is largely a thing of America, 
therefore measureabl^' distinct from European <hristianity 
and measurably distinct from the Christianity of Asia or 
of Africa, in so far forth as the Divine faith may by said to 
have taken foot-hold npon either of these two great divis- 
ions of the earth. A continent eventually gives individ- 
uality to thereligiousfaithof the people who eat its bread 
and drink its waters and regulate their lives in accordance 
with its political and social institutions. Therefore it is 
pei'fectly legitimate to speak of a continental chi-istianity; 
or, as in the case in hand, of American Christianity as con- 
tradistinguished from the christiant}^ of ..ther continents, 
perfectly legitimate to inquire as to its theory and ])ractice 
The (piestion, therefore, in place to ask is: VYhat has been 
the phase of individuality given the American theory of 
Christianity by the agencies, physical, political and social, 



178 N'BG'KO Stars in Ar>f. Ages hf thk W'ori^b. 



recoirnizecl above; and to what, extent have thev affected 

its practic? 

The theory of 'American Christianity, what is it ? 

At this moment we deem it in place to sav that the 
theory of Christianity in general is one thing, the theory of 
the mnltiplied forms of ecclesiasticism, or what might be 
called churchianity, is qnite another. Christianity is of 
<jod, ecclesiasticism is of men; this of earth, that of heaven 
Christianity draws on our faith; ecclesiasticism on our 
judgment; this suffers change, that endures forever. 

And yet nothing is more common than to hear men 
speaking of them as one and the same. We are -quite wady 
to confess that they should be one and the same, at least 
mankind thinks so ; quite ready to confess that the fol- 
lowers of each of the various systems claim thyt they are. 
But in view of the fact that these systems vary greatly 
from each other, it is very certain that each of them can- 
not be the exact counterpart of Christianity unless we 
credit it with chameleon-like properties. Nothing can be 
truer than the axiom : If the Roman theory of ecclesiasti- 
cism be Christianity, then the Greek theory and the Prot- 
estant theory cannot be accepted as Christianity, but only 
•as approaches to it. And so of each and all the systems 
which are equally the glory and shame of Christendom. 
If one of these systems be exactly true, the others, to the 
extent that they differ, are exactly false. But we comfort 
ourselves with the fact, as we have said, ecclesiasticism— 
Roman, Greek or Protestant— is one theory; Christianity 
is another; and so of their respective theories. That we 
may the more readily comprehend the theory of christian- 
itv let us for a moment look at those forms of ecelesiasti- 
•cism which govern Christendom, for it should be remem- 
•bered that the agencies heretofore recognized are even 



NEt:Ro Stars in all Ages ok thk Worldp. 179 



more prolific in producing the one than in jj,iving individ- 
nalitv to the other. 

As we have intimated, Christendom may be said to 
have three leading ecclesiastical theories. 

The first of them is, possibly, the Roman theory. We 
say possibly, for we prefer not to touch the question of 
priority as respectively urged by the Latins of the West 
and the Gi-eeks. But it could not be expected that we 
should present here the hundred and cme shades of belief 
which goto make up this theory, a theory which claims 
to be the exact and only counterpart of Christianity. It 
is sufficient to say that it is roundly autocratic; that it 
tinds the Word of God, not only in the written word, as- 
received by the ancient christians am] the more ancient 
Jews, but supplemented by the a])ocryphaI books, lifted 
by the Tridentine council to the level of the canonical. 
These, with the traditions of the early church, and the de- 
cisions of the council's as held from time to time, constitute 
the sources of its authority. That, however, which dis- 
tinguishes this theory of Roman eccTesia'sticism from the 
ecclesiasticisras of the world is the recognition of the 
Bishop of Rome as Christ's vicegerent, and consequently 
clothed with the largest possible plenipotentiary powers. 

Quite similar to the theory of the Latins is the theory 
of the Greeks; so similarindeed, that to characterize it,, itis 
only necessary to show wherein it differs from the Roman or 
the Latin, All that Rome accepts in the shape ofscpiptures 
and traditions, rites and ceremonies, with the Apocrypha 
and slight differences in the service, Constantino])]e— the 
recognized hsad of Greek ecclesiastii-ism — accepts, rejecting 
only the claims of the Pope to universal primacy. This 
the7 stoutly deny, and when called upon to submit, curi- 
ously enough make answer in the words of the great 



ISO Ni:(;i{o Staks in ai.i, Acks or thk ^AOuld. 



Greiioiv. ( himwelf one of the Popes,) that tlie title of '"uni- 
\ (Msal Bisho]), by whoniHoever assumed, is ])rofaiie, aiiti- 
christiaii and infernal." 

The third and hist of the ecclesiastical theories is 
Pi-otestantism. 

Whatever else Protestantism may or may not be.it 
certainly is not what the Pontiff, the venerable Leo XIJ 
declares it to be. Says he, in hisfamonsEncyclical of 18th 
December, 1878: "Yon. reverend brethren, very well 
know that the ohjei-t of the war which ever since the six- 
teenth centurv has been waoed by the innovators a<2;ainst 
the Catholic faith, and which has every day increased in 
intensity down to the present time, has been that, by the 
setting aside of all revelation and the subversion of every 
kind of supernatural oi-der, an entrance might be cleared 
for the discoveries, or rather, the delirious imaginations 
of mei-e reason.'' 

With due defei-ence to the saintly character of the 
Pontiff, it is only necessary to say that, as a Roman is 
justlv supposed to know more oi the Ronnm theory of 
ecclesiasticism than any one else, and the Greek of the 
Greek theory, even so ought Protestants to be credited 
with a moi-e exact knowledge of the theory they accept 
than any one else. Protestantism, as its name indicates, 
is indeed a protent against what its early foimders regard- 
ed as abuses in the two theories named above. But while 
it is thus largely neji-ative, there is a still larger vein of 
the i)Ositive in it, in tliat it exalts the written word of God 
to a sui)reniacy never before given. The Protestant theory 
of ecclesiastirism may be defined as the theory that ac- 
■jept- the P>ible as theone rule, and the only authoritative 
rule for life and ])ractice. What it commands is to be 
done; what it forbids is to be let alone. 

We lia\ e given here, briefly, the theories of the three 
leading- ccclesiasti-al organizations of the woi-ld— theories, 



Ni:(iuu Staus in am. Agks of tuic World. ISl 



:is \vt' liave sjiid. tiii'oely distinct from the theory of cliris- 
1 iaiiitv. And yet, a'-<-ordiii^- to the world's usus loquendi, 
lhev arc often regarded as one and the same, while this 
is the very o-i-avesl necessity for recognizing the dis- 
tinction. And therein, white men in Europe have 
voted, in so far as they were able, both out of existence. 
Failing therein, both white men and blacKmen in America^ 
while they have not gone to the mad length of those in 
Euro])e have stumbled as uj)on a rock. Referring to this 
sad subject as it relates to white men, the Independent, 
I X. v..) has said: 

"Among all the earnset-minded young men who are 
at this moment leading in thought and action in America 
we venture to say that four-fifths are skeptical of the 
gi-eat histoiic facts of Christianity. What is taught as 
christian doctrine by the churches claims none of their 
consideration, and there is among them a general distrust 
of the clergy, as a class, and an utter disgust with the very 
aspet-t of modern Christianity and of chui-ch worship." 

Referring to this subject as it relates to black men, 
Bisoj) Payne writes: 
"Rky. B. T. Tanner: 

''Dear Doctor: In answer to your query as to my per- 

.sonal knowledge of the effect of xAmerican caste upon the 

most thoughtful of our race, time will only allow me to 

mention two examples: Mr. R. F., one the most gifted 

young men of the city of P., born and reared in it — born 

and reared in the bosom of the P. E. church, had prepared 

himself for confirmation. But within a week or ten days 

of the Sabbath when that rite was to be performed by 

Bishop Onderdonk, he (the Bishop) madea &peech in favor 

of African colonization, in which he uttered sentiments so 
adverse to the interests of the colored American that Mr. 
R. F., said: 'No such bishop will I allow to put his hands 



182 Negro Stars in ai.l Ages of the Worlj; 

on my head.' Then he fj;radually drifted' intosuch bitter^ 
ness against the 'church' that he subReqiiently said to me: 
' I will just af4 soon go to a, brothel to be taught luorahty" 
08 to go to any of yonr chni-ches.' 

"Another member of the same- family, who, hke her 
gifto'd brother, was born and reared in the bosom of the 
Protestant Episcopal church, and lived in it till she was the 
nK)ther of a-half dozen children, in re])ly to my exhorta- 
tions for self-consecration to Christ, said to me: 'Show 
me the black man's God, and I will ser\'e him ; he is not 
the black man's God, he is the white man's God.' 

"This lady belonged, like her bi-other, not to the igno- 
rant classes of colored people, but to the highly intelligent 
and wealthy class. She was independent in her circum- 
stances; kept her servants and a white governess in her 
homestead. 

"Fraternallv, 

D. A. Payne." 

In what consists theniistakeof these chivalrous souls? 
Verily it is that they failed to recognize the fact that 
churchianity is a thing as distinct from Christianity as the 
servant is from the master, as the dry tree is from the 
tree that is green, as the light of the moon is from the 
light of the sun, as man is fi-om God. 

We' have seen the theories of the church, let us see 
what is the theorv of chi-istianitv, es])ecially the theorv 
of American Christianity. , 

And here we dare not touch n])on any disputed dog- 
mas; for the moment dis])ute occurs, necessity for belief 
ceases, and the matter passes over fi'om the i-ealm of 
Christianity to the realm of ecclesiasticism. In the chris- 
tian realm men see eve to eve: "Thv watchmen shall lift 
up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; foi* 



Nicrrtto Stars in ail Auks of thio Would. IS^ 



^hey shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again 
Zion." 

What is the theory of Christianity, that theory in re- 

;.garcl to which men, indeed, see eye to eye, and because 

they do, gives us the plain guarantee of its divinity ? Brief-, 

indeed, is this divine theory ; so brief that it may be given 

in less than a dozen words. It is with the sequence w-hich 

logically follows— God your Father, Christ your Saviour-, 

.Man your Brother. More than this is ecclesiasticism,: 

-nothing less than this is Christianity, Wherein is that 

theory about which there is not, as there must not be, 

anv contradiction. With it upon theii- lips, the Latins 

and the Greeks, with upturned eyes, repeat together the 

glorious " Pater Noster;" with it upon their Hps both 

Greek and Latin cry out: " All hail, Lutheri All hail, 

■.Calvin:!" 

How eminentlv worthv i« such a theory iis this to be 
•i-alled christian, after the glorious Christ. Until the Christ 
Tevealed it the world was a!l astray. None could tell the 
relation man bore to the God whom even the heathen re- 
•cognized; none could tell the relation man bore to his 
neighbor. Nor was any found to point unerringly to a 
Saviour sufficiently potent to take away the sin of the 
world. But the (Christ broke the silence of the ages, and 
symphonies of music were heard all around. The Christ 
dispelled the clouds, and floods of light poured down from 
the upper realm. The problem was solved— the enigTn a 
•made plain. God is Father, Jesus is Saviour, man is 
brother. In this consists the soul, body and divinity of 
the theory of Christianity in general, and of American 
Christianity in particular; for it is to be asserted without 
fear of contradiction, that in no portion of Christendom 
has louder and longer paeans of prmse been sung to this 



184 NE<iK() Stat?s f\ AiA. Ages of thk U'ofv'r^D. 

revelation that in Atnen'ca. And so ore;it lias been the 
influence of the agencies recognized, we might say that 
God as Father, Christ as Saviour, and man asbrother, are 
the very bulwarks of our American theory of religion. 
Upon these have been built that syWritnal temple which 
to-day is the glory of the Republic. 

Leaving this, thei-efore, we approach thesubject of the 
Practice of American chi-istianity, and we could but wish 
its treatment afforded the same high pressure as did the 
treatment of its theory. But alas, alas, a defection, as it 
relatesto the fonrmillions of Africo-Americansin the land, 
greater than that the world ever before witnessed, with 
brazen eyes, is seen to stare truth in the face, and \vith a 
spirit akin to that of the Malachian age, asks : " Wherein 
have we dispised Thy name? Wherein have we polluted 
Thee?" 

The tameness with which we spoke of the nation's 
enthusiasm for that theory of Christianity which presents 
not only God to us as Father, and Christ as Saviour, but 
man especially as brother, was doubtless observable; and 
yet abundant room was given us for exhibiting what the 
Bohemians of to-day call "gush," but we did not. We 
failed to enter into particulars; failed to tell how the 
fathers engrafted it into the xery constitution itself; aye, 
made it the corner-stone of the political structure they 
built ; failed to tell hoAv it was the inspiration of the days 
that tried men's souls; failed to tell how our poets have 
so attuned their haryjs to its music that it is the one key 
recoiiuised bv the world. Especially did wefail to tell how 
the agencies of thecontinent, physical, politicfd and so ial, 
ministered |o it, as did angels minister to him who was 
tempted in the wilderness. B-jt in the practice of all this 
they have fallen infinitely lower than man has ever fallen 
from so high and glorious an ideal ; lower than did the 



iNiccRo Stars in all Actios »)F thic Would. 185 

.'Tews fall in the wilderness: lower than thev fellin the 
<lays of the jnd.iies, and lower than they fell in the tlays of 
•^fheir last pro[ihet. rireiiincision has heen neji'lected, even 
the circunieision of the heart. Hnnian sa<-rifi-e has heen 
.practiced— the hnnian saci-ifice of slavery— which God, 
who cast jewels of truth to the nation, has been turned 
upon and not i-ent, (for divinity is insecable,) but impu- 
dently questioned. 

The practice of American Christianity, what has it 
been in the past? What is it in the preasent? As we ap- 
proach the subject, aptly may we (piote Scripture, "How 
■art thou fallenirom heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! 
How ait thou cast down to the ground, which didst 
weaken the nation!" 

The practice of American Christianity, politically and 
ecclesiastically, has been, and morally is, such as to make 
the world hold up its hands in horror. Politically, how 
have thev iVamed mischief bv a law ecclesiastically? How 
have they gone with the multitude to do evil? 

We speak of the practice of American Christianity 
politically. What was it? Let the slave enactments of 
the several State Legislatures show. In his work, 'Sketch 
of the Laws Relating to Slavery," Judge Stroud lays down 
twelve propositions, in which is seen the bui'den of the 
outrage imposed upon the christian bondmen of America 
by the christian slaveholders of America. They are as 
follows: 

Proposition!. The master may determine tlie kind 
and degree, and time of labor to which the slave shall be 
subjected. 

Proposition 2. The master ma}' supply the slave with 
such food and clothing only, both a^s to quantity and 
quality, as he may think pro])er^ 



S 



186 Negro Stars in all Agks ok the Wori-d. 



Prososition 3. The master riiav, at hivS disci-etion, in- 
fiict any punishment upon the person of his slave. 

Proposition 4. All the power of the master over his 
slave may be exercised, not by himself only in person, but 
by any one whom he ma.y delegate as his agent. 

Proposition 5. Slaves have no legal right of property 
1)1- things, real or jjersonal ; but whatever they may ae- 
<]uire belongs in point of law to their masters. 

Proposition 6. The slave, being a personal chattel, is 
rtt all times liable to be sold absolutely, or motgaged or 
leased, at the will of his master. 

Proposition 7. He may also be sold by process of law 
for the satisfaction of the debts of a living, or the debts 
and bequests of a deceased, master, at the suit of creditors 
or legatees. 

Proposition 8. A slave cannot be a })arty before a 
judicial tribunal in any s})ecies of action against his mas- 
ter, no matter how atrocious may have bt'en the injury 
received from him. 

Proposition 9. Slaves cannot redeem themselves nor 
obtain a change of masters, though cruel treatnient may 
have rendered such a change necessary for their personal 
,safetv- * 

Proposition 10. Slaves being objects of property, if 
usurped by third persons, their owners may bring suit 
and recover damages for the injury. 

Proposition 11. Slaves can make no contracts. 

Proposition 12. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual 

When it is remembered that Judge Stroud builds these 
propositions upon foundations of laws as they existed in 
the Southern States in ante-bellum days, the tei-ribleness of 
this practice of American christians will be made to ap- 
pear. We could almost wish for time to refer to these en- 



Negro Stars in all Agks of tiik World. 1ST 



actiiieiits thenivselves, but owing to the jiTOimd that it 
would be iiecessni-v for ns to travel over, it is impossible. 
Sufficient is it to say that in the certification of his dozen 
])ropositions, instead of painting too deeply the facts, as 
might rationally be su])posed from the darkness of the 
picture presented, the Judge may justly be charged with a 
somewhat miserly use of his abundant materials. 

As stated above, these propositions rest upon the ac- 
tion of the States in their semi-sovereign capacity. But 
let us glance at the action ot the States, as a whole, in the 
capacity of their full nationality. What has been the prac- 
tice of the nation? In the Constitution, section 2, article 
4, we find these words: 

'•'No ])ers(jn held to service or labor in one State, 
under the law thereof, escaping into another, shall, in 
consequence of any law orregulation therein, be discharg- 
ed from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on 
claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be 
due." 

According to the decision of the Su[)ren)e Court, this 
•.constitutional provision is only to be exercised by the 
Federal Government. In the exercise of that unhappy in- 
terrogative, Congress, in the year 1798 and in the year 
1850, ordered the rendition of bondmen who had the plu k 
and foitune to escape from the slave States into the States 
nominally free. Of the inhumanity, to say nothing of the 
non-christianity of the act of 1798, the men of this gen- 
eration know nothing, save as they may glean from the 
provisions of the act itself, and from cotemporaneous his 
tory. Not so, however, with the act of 1850; for of its 
unnatural, unchristian and ungodly i)rovisions, the men 
of to-day know only too much. Concerning these provis- 
ions we will be pei-sonally silent, confessing to what 



IsS Xeguo Stahs in all A(;i:s of thk Woklo. 



Scripture says, without, of course, appi-opriatiiio- to oiir- 
s-elf the wisdom : "Surely oppression maketh the wise^ 
luau tnad."— Eccles. vii, 7.- 

The just Judge, however, whom we have had occasion 
already to mention, i-eferrino- to the shmeful fact that 
both these acts of Congress intrusted the awful power of 
rendition into vslavei-y. to the judj^ment of a >sing'le person, 
and utterly regardless, too, of his capacity, moral or 
otherwise, says : 

"But the strong objection to the tribunal is that ques-' 
tion affecting human liberty, not for a day or 3'ear, but 
for a lifetime, is committed to one person, and that per- 
son chosen bv the veiv men who would take awav the- 
inestimable gift of the Great Author of our being." 

There will be found those ready to say that suc-h pro- 
ceedings as we have been describing were the work of men 
who can only be called christians in the most far-fetched 
sense. We would only be too glad to recognize the strengtb 
of the point taken, were there any weight in it, but no- 
feather was ever more imponderable. Is it not a fact that 
not a few of them stood high in the church, and prided 
themselves on being called reverend? And, lastly, is it 
not a fact that when these very enactments were not of- 
ficially indorsed by the leading church organization of the 
country, they were passed over in sphinx-liKe silence, and 
the man of their number who dare lift up his voice against 
the great iniquity was pronounced an innovator, a dis- 
turber of the peace; aye, in the majority of cases he was 
pronounced an infidel. 

We could wish that some pen would do for the churches ^i^^ 
of the country what Judge Stroud has done for the State 
Legislatui-es and for Congi-ess, put them on record. Not 



Nkoko Stars in af-i. A(?i:s ok the Wori-d. ISO 

for ])nrposes of leventje would we Imve this done, but 
rather as a warnino- to future generations. Wherefore 
d«)es God, in his Word, record the defection of his people, 
individnally und collectively, but that his people in all 
after time might be warned? Even so would we have re- 
eorded'the defection of the American church and people 
fi-om the high christian ideal market! out in the divine 
Word, and which thev profess to embrace in all its heii»-ht 
depth, length and breadth, embrace, even with enthusiasm 
Especially would we have this done for the additional rea- 
son that they have never repented of their [)ast recogni- 
tion of, and affiliation with slaveholders; atleavSt, thev have 
never repented in the eyes of men, and are still largelv. 
both in the North and in the South, in the pra«-tice of the 
slave-holding spirit. 

But what have we to say directly upon the practice 
of Amei'ican Christianity^ by professed christians? In 
answer to the query, let us give the acti<in of a few of the 
leading church bodies. We beain with the Friends, or 
Quakers. These pride themselves, and are prided upon in 
the record they present. When compiiired with the record 
of others, they possibly have occasion to congratulate 
themselves, as has undoubtedly the man with one eve oc- 
casion to congratulate himself upon his seeing capacitv, 
who finds himself numbered with men having no eves. 
*ndyet even in regard to the Qurkers. we can hear the 
great Evang-el of time say: "Nevertheless, 1 have found 
somewhat against thee." What is it? Let history tell, 
and in its own words. We quote from "Stroud's Historv 
and Genealogy of the French Colonv: " 



^ 



"A short time after Francis Daniel PastcM-ious arrived 
in Pennsylvania, he became a member of the Society of 
Friends. He mnrried about that time. Anna, the dau<>htei- 



190 Negro Stars ix xia. A'ukh »;f titk Wokm)/ 

of Dr. Klosterman, ol Mulilheiiii. He waw one of the first 
who had any iriisgiviiigw about the institution of slavery., 
and in 1GS8 he wiote a. memorial agninst slave-holding, 
which was submitted to the meeting of Gerniantown. 
Friends, and by them appi-oved of, and Pastorious was 
appointed to lay the memorial before the^^early meeting 
held in Philadelphia the same year. It was the first pro- 
test against Negro slavery submitted to a religious society 
in the world, Whittier, the poet, who had an opportu- 
nity of seeing the oi-iginal manuscript, says it was a bold 
and direct a])peal to the human heart. The memorial' 
found but little favor with the yearly meeting, and it was 
said that Pa.storious returned to his home at German- 
town with sadness depicted on his countenance." 

Westcott. the historian, says the first j^erson who- 
wrote a book showing the evils of slavery was Ralph 
Sandeford, a young merchant on Market street, Philadel- 
phia. He ha-d resided for some time in one of the West 
India Islands, and had witnessed the cruelties inflicted: 
>upon his fellow-man, and in the year 1728 his book was 
published, showing the evils of the systeni. and for so do- 
ing he was disowned by the Society of Friends. 

Upon this action of the Quakers we have only to say., 
when it is remembered that precedents are portentous- 
either for weal or woe, it assumes gigantic proportions. 
A different action at such an early period, followed up 
with that audacity which christian faith inspires, as reck- 
less as the assertion may seem, might have saved the- 
nation from centuries of guilt and suffering. 

From the Quakers we turn to the Baptists, concerning 
wdiom it is onlv necessai'v to make a single historical 
quotation. Says Daniel Benedict in his "General History- 



Ne(sro Btaus IX a I.I. Agks of thr World. 11)1 



-Df the Bn])tiKt Denomination in Anieriea/' 1813, vol.2, 
;pMjie— : 

"The Baptists are by no means nniform in their o])in- 

uon of slavery. Many let it alone altooether; some re- 

smonstrate against it in j;-entle terms; others op])ose it 

vehemently; while far the greater part of them hold slaves 

;and justify themselves the best way they can." 

Fi-om the Baptists we c-ometo the Presbyterians. We 
•mention the action of two members of the great Presby- 
terian family ; the one with })ossibly the cleanest recovfl; 
the other with the same i-egard to that, that is possibly 
the woi-st. In 18o2 the nnited Presbyteries in the Western 
'Synod passed the following resolution: "That the relig-- 
ion of onr Lord Jesus Christ called upon christians to re- 
nounce the evil (slavery) as soon as it can be done with- 
'ont worse consequences to society and the slaves them- 
selves." Just as if either society or the slaves themselves 
-irould suffer worse consequences. Bnt how they improved 
•on this emptv statement, let Mr. L. Boyd (Springfield, 
'Ohio,) tell us: 

" We wer«e present," says he, " at the meeting of the 
general Synod of the West, held at New ( oncord, Ohio, in 
1S41, and remained during all their sessions, and had an 
inhabitant of another planet, or person from a. distant 
part of our globe been there, and heard all their delibera- 
tions as I did, he could not have known, either from their 
prayers, sermons, or any discussions on the floor of the 
Svnod, that human slavery existed in the ••ountry." 

Of the Old School Presbyterians it is sufficient to say 
that in the general assembly of 1845 they passed a resolu- 
tion that "slave-holding as it exists in the United States 
is no bar to christian fellowship." 

Passing over the practice of Roinan Catholics and 
Protestant Episcopalian christians, whose icy conserva- 



192 Neuko Stars ix ai-l Ages (*f the Woki.u. 



tism iy well known, we conclude with the Methodist Epis- 
copal chn re h South, .and the Methodist Epi.si-opal church. 
When we say that the churchmen of the Methodist 
Episcopal church South believed in slavery and Negro 
subordination., and ioJlowed up that belief with a con- 
sisteucv absolutely adnnrable, in that seven hundred oi' 
them absolutely laid (hnvn their lives for it in the late war 
•between the States, we can with mutual satisfaction say 



•*'good dav. 



:- " 



Had the chiistians of the Methodist Episcopal church 
i'ollowed up their belief with the consistency of their 
.Southern brethren, then indeed would we have had pre- 
sented the most beautiful ])icture of the age. -But, alas, 
with steps growing weaker day by day they pursued the 
tenor of their way, and tliereby justify the remark of a 
iiistorian.: "The Methodists in some places set out on 
this principle: Their ministers |)reached against slavery ; 
.many set them atliberty; but I believe at present (1818) 
their scruples are nearly laid aside," 

Admire the certain sound of 17S4: 

"Question 12. What shall we do with our friends 
that will hux and sell slaves? Answer, If thev buv with 
no other design than to hold them as slaves, and have 
been previously warned, they shall be expelled and per- 
mitted to sell on no consideration." 

But mark the change twelve years wrought: "And 
if any member of our society purchase a slave, the ensuing- 
quarterly meeting shall detern)ine on the number of years 
in which the^lave so purchased shall work out the price 
of his freedom." 

The sound of 1824 is completely changed, and slave- 
holding is re :ognized in the church of Wesley, who pro- 
nounced .slavery "the sum of all villainies." 

"Our preachers," saj/s the general conference oi 1824, 
"shall prudently enforce upon f)ur members t\w necessity 



Nicr,ri« Stars i^ xt<'L Xgkr of thk World. l&S 

<^f teaching their shives to read the word of God, and t(* 
aUow them tiiue ta t^ttend upon the public worship of 
<jod ou our regular days of divine service-"' 

But pei'fectly distress-ing to the ear is the sound sent 
•out by the Methodist coafereuce, aKnual and general, in 
the years that folio \yed- 

Take the following, for instaaee, as passed by the 
:2:eneral conference of 1840, in the city of Baltimore. It 
was offered by the Rev, A.. G~ Ferr, of Georgia.: "Resolved^ 
That it is iisexpedient and unjustifiable for any preacher 
to permit colored persons to give testimony against white 
persons in any State where they are denied that [privilege 
by law,"' 

The Ohio anniral conference, after thev indorsed the 
«ibove, passed the following: ^'■Resolved, That those 
brethren of the N(jrth who resist the abolition movetnents 
with firnuiess and moderation are the true friends of the 
<:hurch, the slaves of the South, and to the Constitution of 
our common country." 

New York, following in the wake, passed the folio w- 
inu': ""First, That this conference fuMy concur in the ad- 
vice of the late general conference (1840) as expressed in 
their pastoi-ic address. Second, That we disapprove of 
the members of this conference patronizing, or in any way 
<»iving countenance to a paper called ZJoifs Watchman^ 
i)ecause, in our opinion, it temds to disturb the peace and 
harn»onv of the body bv so winy- dissension in the church." 

But it may be argued that this gradual defection of 
the Methodist Episco])al church from the truth was owing 
to its connection with the South. It would be unjust not 
to recognize some force in these remarks. Exactly how 
oiuch, however, njay be seen when we inquire as to their 
action after the great session of 1845, 

Notwithstanding the rule of 1784 had long been in- 
«|»erative, vet was it allowed to recur in the Book of 



194 NL:jnt> Sr.vijs i\ ai.c Ages of the WokIvD. 

Discipline. But, in ISOO, sixteen years after their sever- 
ance from the South, in that darknesfe which imniediatelv 
preceded the liji'ht, the laws of 1784 declarin«^ slave-hold- 
ing sufficient cause of expulsion, was made to give wav 
to the following harmless expression of opinion : ''We 
believe that the buying or selling of human beings, to be 
used as chattels, is contrary to the laws of God and nature, 
and inconsistent with the Golden Rule, and with the rule 
of our discipline, which requires us 'to do no harm,' and 
'to avoid evil of every kind/ We therefore affectionateh' 
admonish all our preachers and people to keep themselves 
pure from this great evil, and to seek its extirpation by all 
lawful and chi-istian means." 

So much for the Practice of American Christianity in 
the past. But what of its practice in the present? 

We confess that this is far the greater question of the 
two. The gauge of man's conduct that tells is not the 
gauge of yesterday, but of to-day. With this measuring- 
rod in hand let us proceed to measure the preseut prac- 
tice of American christians. Already do we hear expres- 
sions of deepest satisfaction at the suppressed symmetry 
and beauty presented. And we admit that to the super- 
ticnal eye there is occasion for satisfaction. What is more 
beautiful than the action, say, of the bishops of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church South laying their holy hands on 
the heads of their late bondsmen and exalting them to tiie 
lofty work, not of the ministry in general, but that of the 
Episcopacy itself; nor stopping here, btit preparing for 
them a most excellent discipline, and publishing and edit- 
ing for them a most creditable paper? 

And so likewise the Southern Presbyterian church. 
What right is more delectable to the average vision than 
seeing them lay off a Presbytery for their colored brethren, 
and give it the sanction and influence of their great names? 



Nkgro Stabs in all Ages of the Would. in;'> 



Remembering- tlint these are the da vs of Southern men 
and Southern territory, we are ready to grant them a 
phase of beauty most attractive to a phase of vision not 
uncommon to human eve. But if these be satisfvin"-, how 
intinitely more so is the practice of the christians of the 
North, especially suchchrivstiansas operate with the Amer- 
ican Missionary Association, and the Methodist Episcopal 
church; nor will we be invidious in distinction, but say of 
all the christian denominations of the mighty North, Prot- 
estants and Catholic. How grand is the work of the 
American Missionary Association ! How christian is its 
practice. ! Behold the schof)ls and the chui*ches it sustains 
in the land of the freedmen. Its last report presents the 
following statistics : 

Missionaries at the vSouth, 69. Teachers at the South, 
150. Churches at the South, 64. (hurch members at the 
South, 4,180. Total number of Sabbath-school scholars, 
7,486. Schools at the South, 37. Pupils at the South. 
7,229. 

Quite similar is the doing of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, at the following summation of its work shows: 

Chartered institutions, 5. Theological schools, 8. 
Medical colleges, 2. Institutions not chartered, 10, 

In these institutions the number of pupils taught dur- 
ing the year is classified as follows: Biblical, 4()<»; law. 
25; medical, 80; collegiate, 75; academic, 275; normal,. 
1,000; intermediate, 510; pi-imary, 605. Total, 2,940. 

But sad to tell, there is a fly in all the precious oint- 
ment of Anrerican christians, the fly of caste. There is a fl v 
in the matter of that Southern ordination ; for whv leave 
out these faithful children of the church, and tell them 
henceforth, act for yourself? Thei-e is a Hv in the matter 
of colored Presbvtenes, for whv draw the hue at all? 
There is, in short, a flv in all the Godlike christians of the 



]{»() :??E(iRO' S^ARS TX ALL AGEH OX" THE VrOKLI,'.. 



great North, m that they are endeavoring to keep up the 
middle wall of the partitkyn betvveeti the two classes, iff 
not at the Sooth, certainly at the North. All throngh the 
South, as at the North, the great M. E. chun-h says to her 
black children, "go there,'' and to her white children^ 
"coraeher-e." Separate schools^ separate churches, and 
separate conferences i& the order of the day. And as with 
this great church to-day, so with the other churches of the 
land. Everywhere in the North and m the South caste' 
prevails, differing only in degree; the churchmen of the 
North reprimanding the chm-chmen of the South. Yoip 
can ostracise the Negro to the extent of keeping him out 
of yonr parlor, bnt ^o^'^t kill him,, especially, don't Keep 
him fi'om voting the Republican ticket. And \vhere is the 
difference between this reprimand and the reprimand an 
intemperate father gives to his sons ? "My son,'' said he,. 
*S-ou can drink twoglasses of rum ^ but don't drink three." 
The spirit that practices moral ostracism upon a mran 
solely on account of his color, is twin to the spirit that 
practices political ostracism tor the same reason. 

To' the colored American both are equally hateful and 
hated. He wars upon botli, having vowed a vow like to 
that of Hannibal of old ; that he will never sheathehissword 
till both lie bleeding and dead at his feet. Nor has he any 
respect for the men that practise either. It is ati-ial to him 
that he must at tiuies listen to their soft talk. His soul 
rankles to say, "they are a trouble onto me; I am weary- 
to bear thero." 

And yet, brethren, the morning cometh. Caste i& 
doomed, its death is simply a question of time. The Chang 
of slaver-y is already dead. The Eng of caste must follow. 
America will not fail of her destiny. Her theory of Chris- 
tianity is to be her practice. Called of God to sf)lve the 



Negro Stars in am> Agks of the World. 197 

hiij;he.st political and social problem, its pei-petuity is assur- 
ed till the work has been done, to the furtherance of 
which I invoke the blessing of Almighty God. 



THE ROMANC E OF THE NEGRO. 



This article appeared, 1871, in the November number, 
volume XV, of the Awerirnn Missionnry Journal, which I 
re-produce in this little book as l)eing worthy of consider- 
ate reflection, and which will, doubtless, prove a stimulus 
to race pride in the reader: 

There has been a Lost Theorv as well as a *'Lost 
Cause" for the South in the late war. Before the great 
modern event and its consequences, the popular and 
almost universallv received theorv in the South was that 
the negro, if ever freed, wasbtMindto retrograde, and that, 
after having proved a misery to himself and a nuisance to 
others, he would by providential interposition be extin- 
guished, doomed to altogether di&a{)pear: as Carlyle, 
''maker of books," hath it, "to roam aindess, wasting the 
seed-fields of the world, and be hunted home to Chaos by 
the due watch-dogs and due hell-dogs, with such horrors 
of forsaken wretchedness as never were seen before! " This 
theory- was generally accepted in the South, nein. con. ; 
it not only involved the present writer — he was even its 
zealous advocate. "Lo, the poor negro," was the com- 
mon decmita turn, whenever anything had to be said in 
deprecation of the cruel ablitionists. Since the war there 
have been persons in the South, not to be entirely (classed 
as ignoramuses, who have looked from day to day for the 
gradual extinction of the negro, for the stages of his dis- 
appearance from sublunary affairs in this hemisphere. It 



198 ISTbgro Stars ivr am, Ages of thf! Worcd^ 

IS not u-nuHualin Southern companies to hear HiK-hsnatche.s 
of conversation as f-ollowfi: ""The ni<i<2,ers aredyin^- ont. 
Dr. Asinine tells us that >n the circuit of hi-s practice they 
are dying like i-otten sheep.. Maybe the\^ have diseases- 
which, are not incident to the whites, and that they are- 
thusdoorued to perish. ..... "Then you know, therein 

infanticicle, their common crime. When, I am told that in. 
the ditches and sloughs back of Ci-owtown, it i** common 
to see little dead niggers lying like- drowned ]nippres. Did' 
you hear what a Louisianagentleman told at the "Virginia; 
Springs last summer? He wanted a cook, and a negro- 
woman applied to him' for the place, with strong recom- 
mendations. But she had incumbrances, children, and on 
this account alone he told her she wouldn't suit, and re- 
jected her. The next morning lie was surprised to find her 
i-eturned with a very cheei-ful and animated face, whert 
slie said : 'T'seall right now, sab got no 'cumbrances no- 
more, I'se put dem ontde waiy;: de picaninni'es clone- 
dead!'" 

Those who have been looking for the providential rid- 
dance of the negro,, and have been constructing mortality 
tables to suit themselves, must have been rather surprised,, 
waking up sonie nrorning not long since, to read in the- 
nevvspapei-s and outgiving from the United States Census., 
our ne plus ultra of statistical information. We are there- 
given to know that since ISGO the negroes of the Souths 
despite the exy)eriences of the war, have increased nearly 
ten per cent, (or more exactly speaking, 9.7 per cent.) and 
that in tne United States of to-day there are not less than 
five millions of black people! We can no longer shut our 
eyes to what we may be unwilling to believe. The day 
for prophesying for the black man of America a fate sim- 
ilar to that of its red man is past. The fact, welcome or 
unwelcome, must be accepted, that this race, in numbers^ 



■Jnegro Stars in ai.l Ages of thtc Woto.T). 1l"99 



^ili-e?uly a considerable nation., of characteristics different 
ifrom the white iiaan's, is beino; mixed into the society and 
|)oHtical system of Anierica, and i« working out there an 
•experiment attended by the circumstances of 4i pecuJiar 
a-omance. A .com,paTativfly Bmall number of Africans, 
J:)roiig.ht acri^s seas from their- native wMa, grown up 
intoa people of millions, trained in the iMirsh school of 
•■sla vei-y, but a achcwl whose benefits are that tl>e negro is 
ibrought to his present capacity for -an experiment more 
liopefnl than Iras -ever yet been made for his true civiliza- 
tion, are to be displayed to the world not only as a new 
test of the stocial and political system of Amerii-a, but as a 
^ast supreme effort to take off a reproach that has lain for 
ages on the African, and to meet the •i)re]udices against 
■him in a new arena, and under auspices that have never 
'been offer«^d before. It is the apparition of a new figure 
imd actor in the civilized world ; a greiit historical and 
•ethnological problem to \re siolved anew:; a condition oi 
things sprung out of the dranixitic circumstances of a 
;great war ; a sudden transformation that exceeds the sur- 
prise of fiction ; a new prospect dawned on what had been 
before fvupposed the most hopeless ^nd tnelaiicholy out- 
look of history— the regeneration of the African ; an intense 
«tudy ali'eady commenced of this hithert'O hopeless race; the 
'discovery, so to speak, of the negro as a unique, poetical 
character, issued out of circumstfinces the most un])romis- 
ing, yet already displaying capa ities and virtues that 
have captured the observation a-nd interest of the world. 
Tn this r(Knance the writer desirers a share, as in a great 
■event of history that has happily occured in his times and 
generation, a rrisis and a scene with wdVich Providence 
lias allowed him to be contemporary, and of v^hich he is 
scarcely content to be an idle spectator. 

It is astonishing how little the slave-holders of the 
*South, despite their supposed knowledge of the iiegro. 



200 Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. 



really knew of what was in hitn ; what little idea .,r antic- 
ipation they had of capacities he is now exhibiting. The 
ditfi'-nlty was that slavery was a perpetual barrier to an 
intimate acquaintance with the negro; it regarded him as 
a thing, and was never concerned to know what was in 
the s(>dden and concealed mind of a creature that repre- 
sented only so much of productive force, and was estima- 
ted, body and soul, in dollars and cents. If one, even of 
Southern gentlemen, with the best intentions, sought 
knowledge of the negro, and made opportunities to con- 
vervse with him, he ran the danger of being suspected as an 
abolitionist in disguise, or at least of being condemned as a 
''low person." Yet, despite the difficulties of the subject, 
this writer had in the period of slavery commenced the 
study of the negro ^^s a inmr,he. was already persuaded 
that there might be found in him virtues very peculiar, 
and even greater than what Northern authors, who had 
written novels and romances in his behalf, had ascribed to 
him ; and his discoveries he had entitled " Black Dia- 
monds." The negro had suddenly become as a new book 
to one who had been many years a slave-holder, and, as 
such, profoundly ignorant of the barbarian who did his 
pleasure. 

The tenderness of the negro was a beautiful virtue of 
character; there was not a more affectionate nature in the 
world. His humor (he has no wit) was a study of itself; 
a rich and genial liumor in which there was, remarkably, 
never a trace of vulgarity, and coupled with which was 
the apparently opposite tendency to a tender and poetical 
melancholy. His religious hymns offered a unique literary 
collection that has not yet l)een made. Here w^s a crea- 
ture wholly uncultivated, his ignorance guarded in slavery 
(it being a misdemeanor in many of the Southern States 
to teach him to read or write), yet, after all deliberate ef- 



^>JKf>ao Stars in am. Aues of the Wori-k. 



2m 



Korts to crush out of him the character of man, and make 
,him a mere hiboring animal, exhibitino- traits of character 
to reward the schohir, and virtues to assign him a high 
phice on the roll of humanity. Slavery did not even de- 
prive him of the virtue of courage; having somehow not 
proved in his case what it has so often been in the history 
•of the world, an emasculator, to the degree that shive has 
^tood as the sy n ony me. for coward. 

Let no one doubt the courage of the negro, although 
he wore the badge of an ownership on his uody and his 
-,Ufe was one long subinissiou. There areeven black heroes 
and martvrs in the unknown graves of Virginia. An in- 
cident of the war was related the other day by a friend, 
Dr. White, of theAlleghany Springs; and none of his hearers 
ventured toredect upon his manhood, or to joke upon his 
^ensibilitv, when they saw his eyes fill with generous tears 
as he related the simple story. He had served as a major 
,m the Confederate army, and was attended there by ii 
iavorite slave. On the eve of one of the great battles of 
Virginia he called the slave to him and said, "George, 
there's to be a battle t^-morrow. You having nothing to 
dowith.theflg:htiiig-, and. you can keep out of the way 
during the day." "No, sir," replied the boy, speaking 
slowly and .thouahtfully; "I'll go with you. Ole misses 
made me promise before! left the hom« place that! would 
Htav with vou all .the time, and bring back her chile live 
or dead I must be by you to-morrow ; don't ask me not 
to, Mas'r Isaac." "But George," remonstrated his mas- 
ter, ^S-«ii can't *hoot." ^"¥ou gi' me a gun, sir," vvas the 
reply.; "and ^(argmnontatively,) I reckon I -can kill as 
manv ofthemas^they can of me!" The next day the poor 
fellow fell, shot through the head, and die<l mst«ntly at 
the feet of his master. His body sleeps in a grave which 
the affection of that master bus adorned, and where hie 



^02" I^ET&RO Staks in am. Age8 of the World, 



lueniory has often kept vi<!,il as over one who had " laid 
tlown his life i'or his friend." 

No candid person in the South will deny that the 
ii,enei-al experience of the negro since emancipation has 
been [M-op-ess; that in nearly every respect of his life he 
exhibits soni-e improvement from that date. Southern 
men are not very ready to advertise this to the world; 
Hiey would probably confess it with reluctance to a 
Northep-n commission of inquiry; but in private conversa- 
tions among themselves, where no ])ride of controversy 
interposes, they freely admit it and wonder as it. The 
negro moves. He is showing the greatest eargerness for 
knowledge and education; attested by the fact, for which 
examination is challenged, that in the free schools of the 
South, where he has etjual admission, there are more black 
children than white ones in proportion to the population 
ofccich lace in the given community. Sofarfrom becoming 
the idle vagabond that the pressimist theorizers would 
have him after en mancipation, he is exemplarily in<]ustri- 
ous; attested by the fact that to-day the negro rej)resents 
nearly all the labor of the South, and admitting this test, 
that of persons in equal condition of poverty and of neces- 
sity of work, there are far more poor whites than negroes 
who are idle in the South. Of the vices that were to as- 
sciil and <lestroy the negro in his new estate of freedom 
there ore no proofs; quite the contrary. The terrible vice 
of intem})erance, which has been the usual scourge of weak 
races, and the almost unfailing incident of a precocious 
civilization, is com[)aratively unkn<^)wn among the South- 
ern freedmen. So far from being imi)rovident, the wonder 
is how the negro economizes, gets so many good clothes 
and real con]forts out of his very scanty wages. As a 
voter he has shown a discretion and independence that 
have non})lussed the wisest of our politicians. There vvere 



Negro Stars in all Agios oj'- thk World. '200 

white wiseacres who, eoine time ago, supposed that the 
negro's vote might be procured by the merest solicitation., 
a mere wink from his emph)yer; and a common joke in 
the South on the Fifteenth Amendment was that tht; dis- 
franchised white man might buy some cheap old negro to 
do his voting for him. Never was'such disappointment. 
The spectacle has not been uncommon in the South of a 
negro who ])aid a deference to the white man scarcely less 
than he had shown in the days (jf slavery, who possibly 
vet said "Mas'r" who did his work in all humility and 
with all subjection, yet going openly to the polls and 
casting his vote there against the J)arty of his employer. 
Such an instance of self-respect and moral courage is to 
be admired even by those against whom it acts. A dis- 
tinguished Virginia ])olitician recently assured the writer 
that he had not known of onesingleinstancesin the State, 
of a negro selling his vote for money; and yet the same 
gentleman remembered, in the days of the old hustinirs, 
not unfreqnently seeing a white man approach a knot of 
politicians, saying with thegreatestcomposure, "Gem'men 
what'll you give me for my vote?" — and a half dollar or 
a pint of whiskey generally concluded the bargain. In 
the jury-box the virtue and fidelity of the negro are re- 
markable, to the extent that it has alreadv been observed 
that the vvoi-st negro criminals prefer to be tried by white 
juries rather than by peei's of their own color. In fine, in 
most of the conduct of the negro is to be preceived the 
evidence of his deep sense of being on probation, a con- 
dition in which much will be exacted of him by either the 
hostilitv or thfe; incredulitv of criticism, and in which he 
can justify hiiUvself only by the most undoubted proofs of 
his worthiness; and indeed it is this visible impression 
upon the negro, as of one watched, that affords the best 
assurance of his continued improvement and progress. 

Of the many interesting points of the negro, it is pro- 
posed here to select one especially for examination, and to 



204 Neuko Stars in all Ages of' the Worl-iJ'. 



makeit the- paTtictiiar text of some reflections. It is a* 
i^ubject that will repay in vestigatibn. It is tiie El ^queme ■ 
of the Negroi Here is a' kind ofgeniiis that has often 
been found in uncultivated' races, and the peculiarity oi' 
which is tliat it is not at> affair of learning, not a creature- 
of books, and, though the highest anddeares-tfonn of ait, 
yet one in which the artist is leasf indebted to education 
or to professional" traiiiing. Tt is of tlie phenomenon of 
such ageniiis that thenegro has ali^eadV aroused expecta- 
tions. His universally admittetl gifts ol imagination, his 
extraordinary faculty of language, his delight in rhetorical 
exercise, afford' reason to believe that there may yet 
be in reserve a development of negro character to astonish' 
the world, and to confer upon Mm an interest ^new and' 
altogethei' romantic; 

The command of language which even the-unedbcatecJ 
negro shows is singular; alinost marvelbus when we con- 
sider that, unable to write, he has only haxi the means of 
acquiring words by the ear, and' that in a limited inter- 
course with the white' man- such as was allowed him in 
slavery. A language obtained without the assistance of" 
books, picked up by the- sense of heariiig, is ordinarily a 
villanous coin[)Oiind' (witness the "pigeon English " of the 
(:hinaTnan) ; the vocabulary acquired is small ; and there- 
is a (tharacterivstic absence of selection, a habitual use of* 
the first wnrdi? that occur to the memory. What is re- 
markable of the negro's acquisition is the extent of his 
vocabulary ; the fewness of his solecisms, his strong aver- 
sion to slang, and, on the whole, the purity with which 
he speaks a tongue that he has obtained only by the ear,, 
and in a very limited practice. The abominable hngo as- 
cribed to him by novel- \vriters and paragraphists in the> 
newspapers is often an absurd caricature, a mode of speech; 
that is heard .neither in Tirginia nor in Demerara> Hig« 



Negro Stars in am. Ages of the Woitld. 205 



faculty of selection in the use of words is his most remark- 
able gift; he has an ambition for polysvlables; and even 
in the former days of slavery there was not a negro who 
had ever the advantage 'of listening to educated white 
persons but might command on occasion not a few words 
of "learned leng-th."" 

Of course, some ludicrous mistakes are the consequen- 
ces of his ambition ; the wonder is that they are so few, 
and that the negro speaks an English so pnre and ample. 
It will be found on studious examination that most of 
these mistakes are incident to the negro's method of ac- 
quiring language by the ear, that he has been betrayed by 
some likeness erf sound, a phonetic imitation. Jack 
A vei-ett, tlie negro orator of Virginia, had doubtless heard 
from the pulpit the story of Esau'^s silly bargain for "a 
mess of pottage. '^ So the next time he mounted the ros- 
trum, he was heard to declai^e that he " would never — no 
never — sell his birthright" (;'. e., the new vote Jack has) 
"for a nest of partridges." (And yet, by the way, the fig- 
ure, as of a trifling consideration, was not alltogether 
una]>t; the practice having been in the harvest fields of 
Viry:inia, that if a slave in reaping was so fortunate as tt> 
discover a partridge's nest, he carried it and its contents 
to his young master or mistress, who usually rewarded; 
him with fourpence 'apenny, or so-me equivalent dole of 
sugar or molasses.) 

But eloquence does not depend upon the extent of a* 
vocabulary, nor is it wholly, nor even principally, we dare 
to sav, an affair of words. Even with his necessarilr 
limited mastery of language^ the negro sometimes speaks 
with a power that astonishes the best educated of his- 
white listeners .' and ft is not unfrequent that the black 
preacher in his log meeting-house finds among white 



206 I^EGROf Stars m at.l Ages or the Worliv. 



an'Mtors or intruders that those " who came tf> scoff, re- 
main to pi-ay." 

In the })ulpit the nejjrro is iii his best efcrnenl .. Here 
he is a boi-n oFator, and without those embarrassing- ne- 
cessities which want of edii ation imposes upon him itb 
other callin<;s. Wherever the address is to the passions^ 
whepe it i« not incumbered bv reasoning or ealculation^ 
tlie negro sy)eak& with most freedom and effect; ilhistrat- 
ing the cardinal ruly of eloquence, that the orator himself 
must feel to make others feel, and that, no matter how 
imperfect the language, yet, if spoken out of tlie conscious- 
ness, it has a power which no i-ul'es can explain, which na 
art can approach, and far which nothing will acc-ount but 
that sympathy of souls which is the unsolvable mystery 
of our common humanity. 

Bishop Doggett of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
South, who lately presided over a colored Conference in 
Tennessee, was struck by the eloquence displayed in this 
body, as well as by the fact that more than half of them 
had sirvce the war taught themselves tcv read, and were 
able to refer to the Bible and to the discipline book with 
cill the readiness of their white brethren. The good Bishop- 
tells of the occasion a pleasant incident. '"There were 
several remarkable characters, " le writes, " among the- 
members of Conference. One was named Willis. He was 
a presiding elder, as rotund as a hogshead, and somewhat 
resembling one. He was advanced in years, of deep piety^ 
without education, of decided ability, and perfectly black. 
He arose on my left, and said, " Bishop, may 1 speak?'' 
knowing the prevalent penchant for speaking,! rey)lied, 
'■'That depends upon the nature of the subject." Here- 
plied, " It is in order." I added," Proceed, then." He 

commenced by saying, "I want to open a daguerreotype." 
I was equally amazed and amused. It was a most in- 



l^F.GRts Stairs in all AGh:s of thb World. ^07 

^letinite and eni,i>;niatica] exordium.. As IndicTous as it ap- 
peared, it was really vrell conceived. His meaning was 
tthat be wished to present y.n ;iffecting; picture to the con- 
tem])lating of the audience. That picture was the relation 
in w'hich the Rev. Thoraas Taylo'T had stood to them for 
the last thi-e;^ years. He delineated his them, with loree 
5Uid beauty, melting into tenderness as he proceeded, great 
])early tears rolled down his dusky cheeks. His tribute 
was positively eloquent. He concluded by offering- a reso- 
lution that Brother Taylor be raquested not to dissolve- 
his relation with this colored Ccniference. 1 forgot and for- 
gave what I thouglat the ignorant blunder of his first 
fsentence. H« did "open a daguerreotype" most effectually 
*ind maintained his credit as am original orator." 

In political discussions the negro as has been inti- 
inaated, is not so happy or forcible as in the religious meet- 
ing-house, partly trora the M'ant of knowledge to furnish 
him with ilkistrations. Yet in legislative assemblies and 
on political ficcasions, despite his necessary ignorance in 
«uch arenas, the black man is sometimes found astonish- 
ing his auditor's and putting to confusion the scoffers. 
There is :a clieap school of humor become fashionable in 
.Southern news])apers, which consists of fictitious reports 
of negro speeches made after some grotesque inventions in 
grammar and rhetoric. The caricature has been everdone; 
it w-ounds the n^gro, is a perpetual thorn in his side, a 
soun-e of bad blood ; and it disgusts those educated read- 
ers who can see nothing but a wanton pleasantry of self- 
conceit in this stupid pei-secntion of the negro by reporters 
and would-be wits of rural newspapers, and but little real 
humor in easy aeeumulations of bad spelling and the .in- 
vention of a senseless jargon. Such charcoal sketches 
have had their day, and can nvi longer be practised upon 
thecredulity of readers. The black man hashadanoppor- 



'J9S Negro Stars ix at>i> Ages of the Wokm>, 



tunity to speak in Caugress, to command audiences too 
large and notorious to admit the facility of misrepresenta- 
tion. It was testifSeci bv the late Reconstruction (Com- 
mittee of Congi-ess that the best speech made before them 
in behalf of the admission of Virginia was that of a young 
negro named Bland, wlio until the date of emancipation 
had been a slave; and it is remarkable that on this occa- 
sion Bland spoke in behalf of w4iat was then called " the 
white man's party" in Virginia, and stood in company 
with some'the most distingui;'.hed old politicians of that 
State, whose oratorical efforts he surpassed. He was only 
twenty-five years old, and the promise of his genius was 
t;ut short by his untimely death in the Capitol disaster at 
Eichraond. 

The writer had the fortuue to Tiearthis sable orator 
J>ut a little while before his death. He was a brown-col- 
ored negro, slightly formed, dressed with scrupulous neat- 
ness, and had an ease and raodestvof behavior thar made 
n graceful combinati(»n, and at ouce conciliated his 
'audience. The occasion was a political convention at 
Lynchburg, in which it was stated that a ^^ert^in white 
•man bad obtained a quasi independant nomin^ition for 
Congress, and threatened to divide tlie Radical vote with 
the regular nominee. Bland expostulated, to n-c* purpose; 
the white candidate had evidently njade up his mind to 
folik^w Mr, Summers advice to Secretary Stanton in the 
matter of office-holding, and to -'^ stick," Bland at last 
fiad recourse to denunciation. It was a spectadtj not to 
be forgotten, one indeed that ej)itoniized a great social re- 
volution, and was vvorthv of historical distinction. A 
Jiegro, elate with passion, pointing the finger of scorn and 
of command at a white man, who a few years ago might 
have bought him as cattle in the shambles, and held a lash 



Negro Staks in ai.l Ages of the Wo-rli), 20^ 

•i)\'er his body; abashing one of his fornjer masters or 
drivers by a superiour virtue, and presuminj^ to rebuke 
him in the name of a great political pHrty ! He spoke for 
twenty or thirty ininntew, sometimes in really choice ian- 
."guage, and with a fluency in which there w-as not a single 
fcreak. No report of the exact wof-ds (;an be attempted 
Ironi memory; but the substance «f the s|ieech was w^ell 
-liefined and connected. He said that ofHce-seeking had 
been alleged as a reproach of his race; it was an honorable 
lirabition to serve the public (and here he quoted a senti- 
9nent from Daniel Webster's funeral oration on Calhoun); 
"but" (and here he is reported literally) "it need not Holy 
Writ to enforce the lesson that the last should be first, 
and that he onlv was fit togovern who was able to obev." 
He concluded eloquently ; but the negro's characteristic 
fondness for big words stuck in at the last. He would 
fasten upon the refractory white candidate " the worst 
name that the great Republican partv had for its worst 
enemies, those who were enemies in disguise; a name that 
would follow him to his political grave— the name dis-or- 
gan-izer /" The weight of the last word, with the empha- 
sis and deliberation bestowed upon-it, was crushing. The 
best test of eloquence is its effect ; and the concJusion was 
that the white aspirant got np, and said in a verv whin- 
ing, mendicant tone that he " begged leave to say, after 
the address of Mister Bland, that he begged leave to witJi- 
•dra w his .name as that of a candidate for Congress," 

It is worth while to attempt to determine what are 
the chai-aiteristics of the negro's eloquence, and to inves- 
tigate its effects. There is a common popular notion that 
the black orator is disposed to runt, \^\va.t he has great 
physical energy of delivei-y, and that his discourse is loud 
and colicky. This is a mistake. The forte of the negro ora- 
tor is decidedly the pathetic; he is most effective in the low 



210 Negro Stars rx at>i. Ages of the Wokj^d. 



tones. In his melancholic cast of speech, he has the habit 
of sometimes changintr or half-singing his words — what 
his race very charaeteristiially knows as " moani'jg" ; 
and it has occasionally the mast weird and touching ef- 
fects. 

Another common imputation on the negro ^s oratory 
is that he is excessively fond of tro|)e8 ; hence a suspicion 
of tawdriness of rhetoric. Now, although the imagination 
of the negro leads him into figurative language, it is re- 
markable that his favorite, ahiiost exclusive figure is the 
simplest one in the rhetorician's repretoire — allegory ; and 
so fond is he of this fignr-ethat often his whole speech on a 
given occasion is nothing more than one extended allego- 
ry. "Speaking in parables,'" as he calls it, is his favorite 
rhetorical pastinie. There is a great fondness for Biblical 
illustrations. But few instances of abstract idens (K:cur 
to the negro's disconi-se. His strong imagination leads 
him to personify nearly every objet;t of his discoui-se, and 
this produces a vividness and i-eality that are his peculiar 
virtues as an orator. 

Indeed, regarding eloquence as a very profound prob- 
lem of the conciousness, instead of an art to be objectively 
taught, the nnlearned negro may claim an eminence past 
dispute. The intense realization of what he says is the 
pendiarity of the negro's speech, rather than any number 
or mode of figures of speech ; and in this respect it must be 
insisted that his eloquence is of the purest and severest 
ischool. His faculty of illusion is what strikes one most in 
observing the negro speaker. He seems able to transport 
himself into the scene he describes, or into the emotion he 
has summoned: and it is this faculty which which, l>eyond 
al] accomplishments of language and structures of art, is 
simply and surpassingly the thing called eloquence. The 



Ne(}ro Stars in all Ages of the Wokld. 211 

starting- eyes, looking over and beyond his audience; the 
unheeded perspiration of the brow; the large, cUinisr 
hands, trembling with emotion, and raining down from 
the air, in whirh they are raised, an impalpable influence, 
attest that the negro speaker is feeling what hesays, when 
he is in the full tide of exhortation, when, perchance, he 
sees his favorite religious phantasm, "the old ship of Zion," 
far away on the stormy waves, or sings, as of a longing 
spectator, the hymn of "Swing low, Chariot," one of his 
favorite visions of the sky. Art might take its lessons from 
many of the rude, but impassioned scenes that nre to be 
found in a negro meeting-house; and to studv the black 
man as an orator is an employment that remains to re- 
ward the adventure of the scholar in a jmw and unbeaten 
path of discovery. 

The subject is one to be investigated, and worth inves- 
tigation. Surelj^ not the least of the romances attaching 
to the negro in his recent introduction to the interest and 
cui-iosity of the world is that in what has heretofore been 
considered the unsightly and unpromising son of Africa, 
'may yet be found the type of a being long lost in aesthetic 
history — a trueorator. Who knows, indeed, but that the 
""forest-born ;)emosthenes" mav yet prove to be a black 
man? Edwakd A. Pollard, 



It affords the writer pleasure to note the fact that he 
relies largely upon the "Black Phalanx," by ("oloiiel J. T. 
Wilson, who was chosen by his i-omr-ades in the G. A. R., 
to be the historian of the Negro soldiers, tor military data. 

Frouj a beautiful source comes the idea, and there if* 
no less truth than poetry in it: 

*' We have j?athei'«e<fl posies from other men's flowers; 
Nothing but the thread that bind** th.^iu is our*."" 

The several causes which led to the war of American 
independence, 1775, are too well known by the ix^ader tcj 



212 Nkgro Stars is ai,l Ages of the Wom.v^. 



need fdrtlier explanation or comment; therefore it is suffi- 
cient to remark that our intelligent and fair-minded ora- 
tors, historians and poets all give the sable patriots credit 
for having been instrumental in cheeking the British ad- 
vance and saving the day to the American arms. 

Wfieih where, ami by whom was the first blow struck for Ameri- 
can inflependence? 

ByCrispusAttucks, a runaway slave, who led acrowd 
of white and colored against the soldiers, ''with brave 
words of encouragement." By the shot of the enemy At- 
tacks, the gallant leader, and first martyr to the cause of 
American liberty, was the first to fall. He, and Samuel 
Gray and Jonas Caldwell were killed on the spot. Samu- 
el Maverick and Patrick ('arr were mortally wounded. 

The four hearse» formed a junction in King street and 
then the processicm map-hed in columns six deep, with a 
long file of coaches belonging tvy the most distinguished 
citizens, to the Middle Burying Ground, where the four 
victims were deposited in one and the same grave, over 
which a stone was placed with the inscription: 

" Lton^ as in Freed otu's cause the wise contend. 
Dear to youi- country shall your fame extend ; 
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell 
Where Caldwell, Attuc-ks, Gray, and Maverick fell." 

In this we see the first blood which was shed in the 
colonies for national independence, was by a Neg-ro. 

As with Crispiis Attu'-ks, so it was with many thou- 
Bands of others in the protracted struggle against the 
I>ion, in which the oppressed Negro readily enhsted in the 
ranks, and marched, and fought, and l>Ied, and died, side 
by side with the white patriot, for freedom, which, alter it 
was gained, was denied him. 

The action of Attucks on thisevermemonibleoccasion 
electrified the whole sweep of the colonies, and put a new 



Negbo Staks in alt. Ages of thr World. 215 



phase npon their p:rievances, Thiseno;a^ement took place 
on the 5th of March, 1770, in the citv of Boston. 
Who was Peter Salem ? 

He was nndonbtedly one of the chief heroes on the bat- 
tle-field of Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775. 

When the British Mnjor, Pitcairn, mounted the re- 
doubt inthis^reat battle, shouting: "The day is ours!" 
this hero, Peter Sal^m, fired the contents of his rifle into 
this distintrnished officer's body, killinjr him instanly and 
checking- for a time the advam-e of the British charjre. 
Six months and four days after the battle at Bunker Hill. 
namelv, December 21st, a petition was prepared and pi-e- 
sented to the General Court of Massachusetts Bay for 
a proper and substantial re^-oirnition of the g:reat and dis- 
tinjrnished services of Peter Salem. His bravery, patriot- 
Ism and un<iuestionable thirst for liberty was tested also 
on the battle-fields of Concord and Saratoga. 

It would prove an Hurctilean task, and a fruitless at- 
tempt were we to nssav to chronicle the names of the many 
eminent colored soldiers, and leader-j^ in heroic dee<ls, 
pfedicatinjx inborn vaU)r, equaled only by Napoleon's Old 
Guard at the battle of Austerlitz, orHannibals Invincible* 
at Trebia. 

In this war there were 5,000 colored braves who en- 
listed for Ameiican Independence, while about 40,000 
were rollini*; arouT'd his Majestys Standard under Generals 
Clinton, Dunniore and Cornwallis — Both belligerents 
pledjj:in^ themselves, by Resolutions, Declarations and 
Proclama^^ions to share with ''Gods imaiie cut ebon "— 
their colored comrade, the reward their contentious. 

Mr. Wilson, is his ''Black Phalanx" writes: "Tospeak 
of the j>allantry of the Nf^ro soldiers recalls the recollec- 
tion of some of their d^rirg; deeds at Fed Bank, vvhei-w 



214 Negro Staks in all Ages of the Worlb. 



four (400) hundred men met and repulsed, after a terrible^ 
sanguinary struggle, fifteen (1,500) hundred Hessian' 
troops (whites) led by Count Donop." 

This is oneinstanceindexing many thousands of others 
equally conspicuous and equally happy in results for the' 
Aineriean cause.. 

When the true light of thi^ great war, which tried 

men's souls, shall illuminate the historic page, the names of 

Major Jeffrey, Jordan Freeman, Samuel Lee, Quack 

Matrick, Jonas Armistead, Jonathan Overton, Sambo 

Latham, Samuel Charlton, James Easton, Ebenezer Hill,. 

Prince Whipple, Jonas Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, Salem 

Poor, Samuel Gray^^ Simon Lee^ Crispus Attacks, and 

others, shall shine forth clad in bright and heavy coats of 

mail forever, their watching spirits keeping abreast of time 

will, ever and anon, be found rejoicing in the I'esults of 

their devotion and sacrifice — universal suffrage and the- 

equality of all men before the law. 

Flung^ to the viewless wind* 
Oi' on the Avaters cast, 
Their ashes shall watched 
And gathered at the last, 
Around us and abroad 
Shall spring a precious seed 
Of witneses to God. 

Their returning dust kissed, with a w^ar-like shout,, 
the horrifying fields of gore until victory w-as sealed with 
blood in the battles of Lexington, April 19th, 1775, Bun- 
ker Hill, Junel7th, 1775, Fort Moultrie, June 28th, 1776, 
Long Island, Aug. 27th, 76. Here the British had in line 
of battle 30,000 trained men of war under the command 
of Generals Howe and Clinton, while the Americans had 
only 9,000 soldiers under Gen. Putnam. This was a signal 
victory for American arms. 

Trenton, 1776, Princeton, Jan. 2nd, 1777, Brandy- 
wine, September 11th '77,Germantown, October 4th, '77,. 



JvEGRo Stars in all Agbs of the World. 21j 



^i?arato<j:a, September 19th, and October 7th, 1777. This 
•"engagement carae off between the An?erican Gen. Gates 
•and the British Burg(nMie. 

Monmouth, June 28th, 1778., Camden, August, 17th, 
1781, Eutaw Springs, September 8th, '81, Fort Griswold 
Springfield, Guilford Court House, Ben nigton— Point 
Brido-e, Concord, Stillwater and Yorktown, September 
28th, 1781. 

But alas! the sad fate of Major .Jeffrey was the re~ 
ward of a large majority of these trusting, sable sons of 
war. 

How was he t ranted by his white Comrades after undergoing 
so much endurance and sacrifice for what he was led to be- 
lieve was intended for a blessing on all Americans regardless of 
color or former condition ? 

He was a brave commander of both white and color- 
ed troops at the battle before Mobile, during the campaign 
of Major-Generg.! Jackson. He was a Tennesseean, In 
this battle the charge made b^^MajorSturap was a failure. 
Stump retired in disorder— his troops confused. At this 
juncture Major Jeffrey (colored) being at the time a pri- 
vate, seeing the miserable retreat of the white Major and 
his command, and comprehending the disastrous result 
which was about to befall his country men, rushed forward, 
mounted a horse, took command of the troops and by 
lieroic effort, rallied them to renew the charge, completely 
routing the British and leaving the Americans masters of 
the field. 

He was highly res[)ected and revered by both races in 
the army as well as in Nashville, where Ire resided. For his 
soldierly qualities and knightly^courage' and bearing he 
was christened in the name of '' Major," by General Jack- 
son. Soon after this he was forced to resent an indgnity 
imposed upon him by an incori-igible non-descrapt and for 



216 Negko Stars is aia. Ages of the World. 



thus defending himself against an unprovoked attack, he 
was led into a public place and whipped with a raw hide 
by those whose hearth-stones, property, lives and liberty 
he had so noblv defended in the thickest of many bloody 
battles. He was now seventy (70) years of age and died 
almost immediately after this ungrateful, miserably hu- 
miliating castigation. He fought for the independence of 
his country, and died heart-broken because of the ill treat- 
ment received at the hands of his comrades, to indulge the 
whim and passion of a ruffian who, in all probability, 
never fired a gun nor spent a dollar for his country's inde- 
pendence. Many others were i-e-enslaved. 

In these few lines we discover a struggle unexampled, 
a race of heroes, a devotion unparalleled in ancient or 
modern history. 'Tis sad to reflect that for all this gallan- 
try he enjoyed none of the blessings he aeheived, through 
blood and prayer for his so-called conntry. 

More than 15,000 colored soldiers figiitihg the Lion 
of the world, nearly eight years of devastation, in uiore 
than twenty-five pitched battles, but all of this sacrifice 
failed, under the power of Slaveocracy, to sever the tie 
that bound them to an unhappy existence. The Negro, 
however, made a record which in itself is a lasting It^gacy 
to the millions now reading his efforts and the millions 
yet unborn, as refiected from the light of honest history. 



Negko Staks in am. Ages of thk World. 217 



CHAPTER Xm. 



WAR OF 1812. 



In this war the Neerroin arras onlv sustained the envi- 
able reputation he had won for his race thirty-seven vears 
earher. The cause of this war grew out some Naval re- 
strictions on the part of England, relative to the nian- 
^agenient of her sailors, prejudicial to the American Navy. 
Several sailors escaped from an English vessel and found 
lodgment in an American ship — the Chesapeake. The 
names of the seamen deserting theEnglish ship Melampus, 
then lying in Hampton Roads, were William Ware, Daniel 
Martin, John Strachan, John Little and Ambrose Watts. 
After 5c>me consular correspondence, a demand was made 
by lettt^/ addressed to the Commander of the Chesapeake, 
Commodore James Barron, to deliver up the so-called de- 
■serters. The demand was refused and a broadside was 
•opened upon the Chseapeake by the English frigate Eeo- 

pard. 

Hard upon four 3^ears elapsed before the assault upon 

the American vassel was settled. Still, however, the cause 
ot the belligerent attitude of these two great powers re- 
mained. War was promptly declared June 17th, 1812. 
It was carried on principally upon the water between the 



218 Negro Stark in all Ages of the World. 

armed vessels of the two nations, therefore no «reMt 
forces were called int<j active service upon the field. The 
e-olored men entered theserviee with alacrity ; in the naval 
department of this wai* we swelled the number of those 
who manned the nation's guns upon the rivers, lakes, 
bays and oceans, in defense of Free Trafle, Sailors Rights 
and independence, on the seas as well as on the land. We 
cannot put in figures anything like the accurate number of 
colored men who stood b^' the paraphernalia that brought 
to the arms of the States such a just recognition as fairly 
eclipsed the admiration of the world, and quit the engage- 
ment with banners shouting to every man and gun, "with 
lightning rolled in every fold, and Hashing victory." • 

It is recorded in history that the battle of Lake Erie 
was the most memorable naval encounter with the Brit- 
ish; of it Rossiter Johnson in his discription of the engage- 
ment, says: 

"As the (juestion of the fighting qualities of the black 
man has since been '-onsiderably discussed, it is worth 
noting that in this bloody and brilliant battle a Lar^ 
number of Cotnmodore Perry's men were Negroes." 

More by the love and hope of freedom, which ever an- 
imated them, they responded to the call oi Genei-al Jack- 
son, "with a zeal and energy," says Mr. WilsoU in his 
"Black Phalanx," "characteristic only of a brave and patri- 
otic people." They entered the ranks of their country's 
defenders whenever that realm has been assailed by foes 
without or traitors within. He deems it very fitting that 
he close this chapter in the language of the profound 
thinker and historian above referred to: "As in the dark 

days of the Revolution, so now in another period of 
national danger, the Negroes proved their courage and 

patriotism l)y service in the field. However, the lament- 
able treatment of Major Jeffrey is evidence that these 



Negro Stars in am. Auks of the World. 219 

services were not reg^arded as a protection against ont- 
rag-e. In the two wars in which the history of the Negroes 
has been traced in these pages there is nothing that mil- 
itates against his manhood, though his condition, either 
bond or free, was lowly. But, on the contrary, the honor 
of the race has been maintained under every circumstance 
in which it has been placed." 

Of their struggle, wearied ai^d despondent, as had been 
their career for nearly 200 years at that time, they caught 
the inspiration by the hope of impartial liberty, and ral- 
lied to the strong support of Jackson's banner, since under 
it they were promised all the blessings of a free people. 

As to their mark on history's wall, 

"Time cannot wither it 

Nor custom sale ' 

Its infinite variety and beauty." 



REV. A. M. B.IRRETT. 



Eev. A. M. Barrett, of Raleigh, N. (L, was born Feoy. 
the 7th ] S-l-4, near the little town of Carthage, Moore 
County, X. (\ He and his ancestry were the chattel prop- 
erty of Rp\ . R. G. Barrett. 

Edward and Catherine Barrett were the respected 
parents oF this distinguished divine. 

His father, a consistent christian, died at his old home 
near Carthage, 1878. But his mother died much earlier. 
She however, lived to the ripe age of sixty-five and died 
186'{. She bore the cross of Christ, for thirty -five years, 
with patience and pleasure, though life with the poor slave 
was one long, (;old and dreary night nf suffering and often 
for whom death was the only relief obtainable. 

From the early age of nine to nineteen this bright star 
was a waiting man, or livery boy, for his master on his 



220 Negro Stabs ik all Ages of the World. 



cii-ciiit and pastoral visits (for he was a Presiding Elder 
in the M. E. ( hurch, South). 

During these days of bondage and travel, our subject 
enjoyed the confidence of his owner. His master and 
mistress taught him to read and write, notwithstanding 
this was "contrary to the (Black code) statutes, in such 
cases, made and provided." After his master moved 
down to the city of Goldskoro, (N. C.,) our divine's task 
was comparatively light, for his master sold his livery.. 
This afforded Rev. A. M. B., abetter opportunity to study.. 
He taught Sunday-school, lectured and preached to his 
people. While in this place he was employed at a good 
salary, as sexton in the white church. 

At Beaufort, (N. C.,) July the 16th, 1861 he was 
licensed or allowed to preach to his comrades in bondage. 
Then he was only seventeen years old: He professed re- 
ligion at the age of fifteen and cultivated the spirit of ti'ue 
piety as he advanced in years. The great kindness shown 
him by his master and mistress was quite unusual, and 
grew out of the aptitude and purity of character as ex- 
hibited by young Barrett. He possessed a wonderful 
talent for discoursing upon topics of faith and duty to 
God and man, and evinced such a wonderful knowledge of 
the Bible that he was not only respected by both races but 
was also granted privileges which were denied others of 
his race. 

This anti-bellum. but clandestine preparation, served' 
him a great purpose and enabled him to enter at once, 
when white winged peace and freedom flashed over the dark 
horizon of tlie South, upon a career of usefulness, that 
redounds alike to his individual credit, and an honor to 

the race he represents. 

He was the first colored man in the county of Moore 
to obtain a public school teacher's certificate by an exam- 



Ne^ro Stars rx ai.i. Ages of thic World. 22T 



ination at the hands of the county examiner who was 
then Lawyer A. R. McDonald. This was in the fall of 
1865. He ^ot a good grade. 

In 1S66 he married Miss C. J. Kelly, of Carthage, 
and in the same year joined the A. M. K. Z. C'hurch nnder 
Elder (nftw Bishop) J. W. Hood. He went forth organ- 
izing churches and schools, and of course met with great 
and deserved success. 

At the North Carolina Annual Confeience held in Lin- 
colnton, he was elected Recording Secretary and was at 
the same time ordained Deacon, November 27th 1867, by 
Rt. Rev. J. J. Clinton, presiding Bishop, and was appoint- 
ed to the Haywood charge, where he had been laboring 
for some considerable length of time. He was ever zealous 
of his engagefnents and never lost an appointment by rea- 
son of service as teacher in the public schools. On one oc- 
casion the water courses were all swollen high, and to his 
disc(jnifitiii-e, impeded travel bv bu-ggy or horseback. He 
was, in conserpience of this fact, advisei^ byjfriends not to 
venture or hazard the risk of getting drowned, but noth- 
ing wonld satisfy his mind but the fulfillment of his ap- 
pointment; so he "spread his sails," as it were, to the 
breeze, with Bible and hymn-book in hand, "feet shod," so 
to speak, "with the gospel pre])aration," and walkefl in. 
the cold through mud and rain to his church, where he 
found his flock anxiously awaiting his arrival. It was 
indeed, a severe ordeal, but all enjoyed the task. This 
shows the moral heroism in the man and accounts for his 
wonderful achievements. His first text, preached in the 
light of freedom, was from Psalm ix:17. " The wicked 
shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget 
God." 

In 1868, at the regular fall election, he was elected as 
Magistrate for his township and with the view of the bet- 



•J22 N"k{>K() Stars lv Af.r. Ages ov the Wori.D: 

ter nnderstandiiig: his duties as such, he read both statute- 
and common law.. His rulinor.sin his judicial capacitv re- 
flected credit upon his constituency and race. 

While pusnin^' the arts of peace, he has taujy^ht school 
every year since Emancipation, and served as Secretarr 
i'or a number of years,, the annna-l Conferences v^hich he- 
attended. 

Ap^in in 1871 he was promoted. This time to the- 
eldership by Rt. Rev. Bishop Loj^nan. He has always- 
endeavored to advance the cause of temperance among alB 
tiie people with whom he mingled. 

He was a delegate to the General Conferences of his. 
connection which met at the following places: 

At Charlotte, (N. C.,> in 1872, which elected Elder J. 
W. Hood,. D. D., as one of the Bishopi;, and also proiuoted 
him (Elder Barrett) to the presiding Elderships At Louis- 
ville, (July 22nd,) 1876— at M'ontgomery, Ala., in 1880 
and also attended as a spectator to the General Confer- 
ences held in New York, 1884 and at New Berne, (N. C^) 
1888. 

In 1876 he visited the Centennial' Gronnds at Philadel- 
phia. Here he saw in one hour the work of a century of 
National life. 

After his return horae frouj the Louisville Conference- 
he entered the ISt. Augustine Normal School in Raleigh. 
From this institution he graduated in due course of time.. 
His children have made quite a reputation in this schooL 
During his labor on the Wadesboro District, (1881 
and '84, and again 1888) the District proved itself eq.uaE 
in liood works to anv in the Conference circuit, both finan- 
tially and s{)intually. Greater harmony never prevailed.. 
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to 
dwell together in unity : It is like the precious ointment 



*fB«Ro Stars in ajll Ages of the "Wohlb. 22'i 

fiipou the head, tliHt lan down upon the beard, even 
-Aaron's beard ; that went down to the skirts of his ^ar- 
iments; as the dew otf Hermon, and asthede^v that de- 
scended upon the Mountains ofZion." " No good thing 
'will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Such 
'has been, and is to-daj, the propitious manifestation of 
»God"'s approval of Rev. Barrett's faith and good works. 
He has been instrumental in bringing many thousands of 
•souls to Christ. He has [)i-eached one hundred and fifty 
funerals. Secui'ed scores of lots for churches and saw that 
they were paid for and the deeds given for the same, and a 
good building reared on each. His habits of temperance 
and economy are indeed, exemplary. He neither smokes, 
'Chews nor drink intoxicants. In the fall of 1.S72 he coveted 
the pleasures of a home, so he negotiated with one B. E. 
Webster for the purchase of one hundred acres of land in 
.Moore county, for which he paid $500— $250. cash, bal- 
ance in a short time afterwards. In 1776 he bought two 
•city lots in the city of Raleigh, lie erected a dwelling house 
on each \vith other neccessary out-buihlings — his dwelling 
costing near |1000. The property here costing $1,310. 

Since then he has acquired possession of a good lot in 
the t-own of Sandford. He owns also two lots in Pee Dee, 
(a R, II. Station). This is a few miles South of Lilesville, 
N. C. Besides these he owns another tract of laud in Moore 
county. On this place heerected a grist and saw mill. 

Another friend was a })artner with Rev. B., and owned 
an interest in the mill. Brother B.. sold his interest to his 
partner and bought another place. This was in 1876. 

He managed in this wise to ac(|uire an education of a 
higher order. That is to say, he would remain in St. 
Augustine during the week and on Friday evening would 
leave about 4 o'clock p. m., to go to his Circuit many miles 



224 Negro Sr.viis ix all A'>es t>F the Worm*. 



away, but would be on hand Monday morning; to take 
his place in his class. This he did for two years and six 
months. Of course he traveled to and from his ministerial 
appointments by railway. 

Several of his children, the oldest ones have been en- 
g-aa-ed teaching— sometimes assisting; their father, but were 
frequently principals of their own schools. 

He lost two children by di])theria— namely, James W. 
Hood, aged five years— Edward Jas. Bailey, aged three 
years — both were corpses at the same time and both were 
buried in the same grave, they were funer-alized by Rev. 
J. Alston, taking his text from Job i, 21, 

In June 1880 his nine months old daughter, J. M. C, 

was called hence away, to bathe in that celestial joy, to 

join in that rapturous melody, "hard by thethrone of God" 

" Where saints immortal mgn ; 
Wliere infinite day excludes the niffht. 
And pleasures banish pain." 

She was his pet, but God needed her. 

Never has Rev. B. been arraigned before the ecclesias- 
tical court, Conference, or any other court, nor any other 
body, for moral imbecility or unchristian conduct, in deed 
or action; neither for the commission of improprieties or 
the omission of domestic or ministerial duties. 

These lines of poetic beauty seem, like a golden strand, 
to run all through the life lessons of the individual sketch- 
ed in this narrative: 

" Honor and fame from no condition rise^ 
Act well your part ; there all the honor lies." 



Negro Stars in all A.ges of the World. 225 



CHAPTER XIV, 



WAR BETWEEN THE STATES, 1861-5. 



What was the ca,use of this whv? 

The northern cause was preerainentl y the national uni- 
ty of states, with freedom as a basis, while that of the 
isouthern cause was for slavery and disunion. Slavery 
was the chief aggravation of this war. 

What effective steps were taken by the South to dissolve this 
Unios ? 

In 1861 tht^ Southern National Convention, held in 
Montgomery, AUibama. passed resolutions dissolving its 
connection with the United States, and styling itself the 
Southern Confederacy of America- 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 



LKTTRR OF GEN. LEE ADVISI.VG THEIR USE IN THE CO.NFEDERATE ARMY. 



In a speech delivered in the Confederate House of Rep- 
resentatives, in February, 1865, by Mr. E. Barksdale, of 
Mississippi, on the bill to authorize the employment of 
negro troops by voluntary enlistment, he quoted a letter 
of Gen. Lee, which, it is said, has not been generally pub- 
lished. Mr. Barksdale, who is a member-elect of the 49th 



226 Negro Stars in ai.i. Ages of the World. 



Congress, fiirni>slied a lopy of the letter from his nm.sty 
files. It is RK follows: 

Hd'qks Confederate States Armies, \ 

February 18, 1865./ 

E. Barksdale, House of Representatives, Richmond: 
Sir — T Iiave the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of the 12th inst., with reference to the employment 
of negro?s as soldiers. I think the measure not only expe- 
dient but necessai-y. The enemy will certainly use them 
against us if he can get possession of them, and as his pre- 
sent numerical superiority will enable him to penetrate 
many parts of the country, I cannot see the wisdom of the 
policy of holding them to await his airival, when we may 
by timely action and judicious management, use them to 
arrest his progress. I do not think that our white popu- 
lation can supply the necessities of a long war without 
overtaxing its capacity and imposing great suffering upon 
our people; and J believe we should provirle resources for 
a protracted struggle, not merely for a battle or a cam- 
paign. 

In answer to your second question, I can only say 
that in my opinion, the negro, under proper circumstan- 
ces, will make an efficient soldier. I think we could do as 
well with them as the enemy, and he attaches great im- 
portance to their assistance. Undir good officers and 
good instruction, I do not see why they should not be- 
come soldiers. Tliey possess all the physicfd qualifica- 
tions, and their habits of obedience constitute a good 
foundation for discipline. They furnish a more promising 
material than many armies of which we read in history, 
which owed their efficiency to discij)line alone. I think 
those who are employed should be freed. It would be 
neither just nor wise, in my opinion, to require them to 
serve as slaves. The best coui-se to pursue, it seems to 



Negko Stars in am. Agks of the World. 227 



ine, would be to call for such as aie vviliiiijj: to come, wi^h 
the consent of their owners. An impressment or draft 
would not be likely to brinf^: out the best class, and the 
use of coercion would make the measure distasteful to 
them and to their owners. 

I have no doubt that if Conjiress would authorize their 
rece})tion into service, and empower the President to call 
upon individuals or states for such as they are willino- to 
contribute, with the condition of emancipation to all en- 
rolled, a sufficient number would be fortht'ominf>- toenable 
us to try the experiment. If it proves successful, most of 
the objections to the measure would disappear, and if in- 
dividuals still remained unwillino- to send their negroes to 
the army, the force of public opinion in the states would 
soon bring about such legislation as would remove all ob- 
stacles. I think the matter should be left, as far as possi- 
ble, to the people and to the states, which alone caji legis- 
lateas the necessities of this particularser\Mcemay recjuire. 
As to the mode of organizing them, it should he leftasfree 
from Testraint as possible. Ex])erien<-e will suggest the 
best course, and it would be inexpedient to trammel the 
subject with provisions that might in the end prevent the 
adoption of reforms suggested by actual tiial. 

With great respect, youi- obedient servant, 

R. E. Li-:e, General. 

Who WHS elected asCheifExecutiveof this new Empire of Slavery? 

Upon its organization Jefferson Davis was chosen 
President, and A. H. Stephens, of Georgia, as Vice Presi- 
dent, with its capital at Richmond, Virginia. 

The question of freedom and slavery had been under 
discussion for more than a quarter of a century, and when 
the humane sun of liberty began to pearce every commu- 
nity, and to find, and formulate, and develop a healthy 



22!? Nkoko Stars ix ai,l Ages of the WoRi.r/. 



sentiment for freedom, the slave-god began to put on the 
war-paint and (.'hallenge the North for a test at arms. 
When mid where was the first gun tired in tti» war? 

At Fort Sumter, South Carolina, April 12th, 18r>l, at 
4 o'doek, a. m. 

What wa.s the condition of the Umon Army after the first year's- 
prog'ress of the war? 

It was found to 1)6 inadequate to contend with a mil- 
lion and a-half trained white soldier.s on the battle-tield,. 
and four and a-half n)illions o-f colored men supporting 
them from the cornfields by forced labor. It was this con- 
dition of affairs that led to President Lincoln's celebrated 
Emancipation Proclamation in. 1868, and the call for col- 
ored volunteers. 

How was the call for colored troops appreciated by coloi-ed peo- 
ple? 

The privirege of fighting for their own free<l{>mand the- 
onion of their country was regarded by them as being the 
Olympian archway to the universal suffrage of their race. 

Enlistment commenced promptly, and ere long, the 
following summer (1.SG8), had passed into sombre au- 
tumn ]r)i),()<'0 colored uwn were fighting like Spartan 
braves for a free, united government. 

What was the number of colored soldiers who served in the army? 

The rolls show 180,000 ; but Mr. AVilson, in his ^' Bhick 
Phiilanx claims 220,000 who enlistefl in the ranks of the 
army. 

It is well known that the first systematic attem]it to 
organize colored troops during the war of the rebellion 
was the so-called "Hunter regiment.'' The officer origi- 
nally detailed to recruit for this purpose was Sergeant C. 
T. Trowbridge, of the New York Volunteer Engineers (CoL 
Serell). His detail was dated May 7, 1862, S. 0; 84, Dpt. 



Nkgro* Stars i.v xia. Agics of the World. 229 

South. The second rejiiment in order of muster was the 
First Kansas, coh)red, dating; from January 18, LSGH. 
The first enlistment in the Kansas ref»:iment goes back to 
Aug-ust 6, 1862, while ■'.he earliest technical date of enlist- 
. ment in any reti:iment was October 19, 1868, althonjih, 
as was stated above, one com])any dated Us organization 
back tcr-May, 1862. My muster as Colonel dates back to 
November 10, 1862, several months eai-lier than any oth- 
er of which I am aware, among colored regiments, except 
that of (/ol. Stafford (First Louisiana National Guard), 
Sept. 27, 1862. Col. Williams, of the Frst Kansas colored, 
was mustered as Lt. Col., on Jan., 18, 1868; asCol., March 
8, 1868. These dates I have (with the other facts relating 
to the regiment), from Col R. J. Hinton, the first officer 
detailed to recruit it. 

The first detachment of the Second South Carolina 
Volunteers (Col. Montgomery), went into cam]) at Port 
Royal Island February 28, 1868, numbering one hundred 
and twenty men. I do not know the date of his muster: 
it was somewhat delayed, but was probably dated back 
to about that time. Recruiting for the Fifty-fourth Mas- 
sachusetts (i-olored) began on February 9, 1868, and the 
first s^]u ad went into camp at Read\ijle, Massachusetts, 
on Feliruary 21, 1868, numbering twenty-five men. Col. 
Shaw's commission, and probably his muster, was dated 
A])ril 17, 1868 ( Report of Adjt. Gen. of Massachusetts for 
• 1868, pp. 896-99). The.se were the enlisted colored regi- 
ments so far as 1 know. 

What Generals comnmndefJ the colored soldiers in this civil war? 

Generals Hunter, Butler, Thomas, Grant, Mead, Burn- 
side, Gilhnore, Rousseau, Granger, T. J. Morga^i, Vail, 
Curtin, Phelps, Weitzel, Stoneman, Gilliam, Burbridge, 
Wade, Brisbin, G. L. Stearns, Freemont, Banks, Wilde, 



230 Negro Stars in all Ages of thk WoRLrf. 

PVrrero, Sedgwick, BInney, Paine, Dwight, Ullinan andi 
t^teadnian. 

Wl)ut can you say of the Black Phalanx as to bra,very and disci- 
pline ? 

Mr. Wilson says: "As a phalanx they were invalua- 
ble in crushing'the rebellion. Let their acts of heroism- 
tell. In the light of history and of their own deeds, it can 
be said that in courage, patnotism and dash, they were^ 
second to no trooj)s of either ancient or modern armies."". 

Name some of the chief battles in which the colored soldiers won- 

fame. 

» 

Port Hudson, Fort Wagner, Miliiken's Bend, New 
Market Heights, Petersburg, Olustee, Bull Run, Ball's 
Bluff, Roanoke, New Berne, Gabies' Mill, Mechanicsville,. 
Seven Pines, Savage Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill,. 
Fredericksbura", Chancellors ville, Antfetani, South Moun- 
tain, Knoxville, Vicksburg, Gettysburg. These battle- 
fiehls areas many stars, reflecting eve-r, in bi-illiant rays, 
amidst the gloom and partiality of general history, the- 
black man's militar}' valor and sacrffice-. 

OFFICERS 

"They were otticered by the elite, such as Col. R. G» 
Shaw, of the 54th Massachusetts, a former member of the 
7th New Yoi'k legiment, and upon whose battle monu- 
ment his name is carved ; Cols. James C. Bee<-^ier, Wm. 
Brinly, and a host of others, whose names can now be 
found on the army rolls, with the prefix, General, com- 
manded these regiments. Of those who commanded 
southern regiments this is equally true, esj)eciHily of those 
who served in the 9th, 10th, 18th, and IDth corps. Col. 
Godfred Weitzel, who, in March, 1855, had been promoted 
to Major General of Volunteers, comnuuidcd the 25th! 



Ne(}ro Stars in alt. Ages of thk Would. 231 



<.'orps of 30,000 negi-o soldiers!"— /'Vo/jj the ''Black Plm- 

Th€ following is an extract from an oration of Wen- 
<lell Phillips, in Boston, December, 1861, relative to the 
possible service of the colored man, who' at that time 
"Ought to have been carrying a musket instead of a hoe: 

■"All I know is that the Port Royal expedition pr-oved 
one thing — it laid forever that ghost of an argument, that 
the blacks loved their masters — it settled forever the ques- 
tion whether the blacks were with us or with the South, 
My opinion is that the blacks are the key of our position^ 
He that gets them wins, and he that loses them goes to 
the wall. Port Royal settled one thing — the blacks are 
with us, and not with the South. At j)re8ent thev are the 
only unionists. I know nothingmore touching in history, 
Slothing that art will immortalize and poetry dwell upon 
more fondly — I know no tribute to the Stars and Stripes 
more impressive than that incident of the blacks coming 
to the water-side with their little bundles, in that simple 
faith which had endured through the long night of so ma- 
ny bitter years. They preferred to be shot rather than 
dri\-en from the sight of that banner they had so long 
prayed to see. And if such was the result when nothing 
but General Sherman's equivocal proclamation was land- 
ed onthe.Carolinas, whatshould we have seen if there had 
been eighteen thousand veterans, with Fremont, the 
«tatesman-soldier of this war, at their head, and over 
them the Stars and Stripes, gorgeous with the motto, 
/Freedom for all! Freedom forever!' If that had gone 
before them, in my opinion they would have marched 
across the Carolinas and joined Brownlow in East Tenn- 
essee, the bulwark on each side of them would have been 
one hundred thousand grateful blacks; they would have 



232 Negro Stars in all Ages of the Wori.u. 



cut this rebellion in halves, and while our fleets fired sa- 
lutes across New Orleans, Beauregard would have been 
ground to ]')owder between the upper millstone of McClel- 
lan and the lower of a quarter million of blacks rising to 
greet the Stars and Stripes. McClellan may drill a better 
jii-my— more perfect soldiers. He will never nmrshal a 
stronger forje than those grateful thousands." 

Describe the battles of New Murket Heights and Milliken's Bend. 

On the 2yth of September, 1804, Gen. Grant ordered 
Gen. Butler to cross the James river at two points and 
attack the enemy's line of woiks. The enemy's position 
laid on the top of a hill, from this redoubt led a steep in- 
cline into a marsh where the union soldiers weie gathered. 

Of it Gen. Butler has this to say: 

"On that plain where the Hash of dawn was break- 
ing, Butler placed a column of the Black Phalanx [which 
consisted of the 5th, 36th, 38th, and 2d Cavalry reg'ts], 
numbering three thousand, in close column, by division, 
right in front, with guns at right shoulder shift. The 
center of the line was given to the 18th corps, composed 
of white troops under Gen. Ord, and they di-ove theenemy 
from a very strong work, capturing several pieces of can- 
non. Gen. Butler had been severely criticised by officers 
of the regular army for organizing twenty-five regiments 
of negroes. " Why," said they, "they will not fight." In 
contradiction of this assertion Butler made -ip his mind 
to prove the worth and value of the Bhjck Phalanx. 
Notwithstanding their gallantry at Petersburg, and on 
the Frederi(-ksburg road, the metal of the 25th corps of 
the Army of the James was to be tried ; so Butler took 
command of the 'Phalanx himself, with a determination 
to set at rest forever the fighting capacity of a portion 
of his command. Addressing the Phalanx, he said, point- 



Nk«r(* Stars in k\a. Agiss of thk vV<irud. 



iH;j 



ang to the works od the enemy's flanks: "Those wtirKH 
^nust be taken by the weij^ht of your c-oluinii ; not n siiot 
mnst be fired." In order to prevent them from tirinu', he 
aiad the caps taken froni the nipples of their j2;nns. " When 
von charge," said he, "yonr rry will be 'Remember Fort 
Pillow.'" 'T^vas in the early gray (»f the morning, ere 
the mm had risen, the order "Forvvnrd!" had set the col- 
umn in motion, and it wentforward asif on parade— down 
the hill, across the raarsh, and as the column got into the 
.ibrook they catMe within range of the enemy's tire, which 
was vigorously opened upon them. Thec(»himn broke a 
3ittle. As it forded the brook it wavered ! What a m(j- 
mentof intense anxierty! But they forward again. As 
they reached the firm ground, marching (m steadily with 
•close ranks, under the enemy's fire, until the head of the 
^•olumn reached the first line of abatis, some one hundred 
-and fifty yards from the enemy's worKs, then the axemen 
ran to the front to cut away the heavy obstacles of de- 
fence, while one thousand men of the enemy, with their 
•artillery concentrated, poured fr()m the redoubt a heavy 
fire upon the head of the column of fours. The axemen 
wentdownunder that murderous fire. Otherstrong black 
hands grasped the axes in their stead. The abatis was 
«ut avvay. Again, at double-quick, the column went for- 
ward to within fifty yards of the fort, to meet another 
line of abatis. The column halted, and there a very fire of 
hell was poured upon them. The abatis resisted and held 
the head of the column which literally melted away under 
the rain of shot and shell; the flags of the leading regi- 
ments went down, but a brave black hand seized the col- 
ors. They were soon up again and waved their starry 
light over the storm of battle. Again the axemen fell ; but 
strong hands and willing hearts seized the heavy sharpen- 
ed trees and dragged them away, and the column rushed 



2M Negro Stars in all Aies of the Would. 

forward, and with a shout that rung out above the roar 
of artillery, went over the redoubt like a flash, and the 
enemy did not stop runninp^ within four miles, leaving the 
Phalanx in possession of their deemed impregnable work, 
cannon and small arms. The autocrats of the regular ar- 
my could croak no longer about the negro soldiers not 

fighting. This gallantry of the Phalanx won for them and 
the negro race the admiration of the men who supported 
Jeff. Davis and the slave power in the Charleston Conven- 
tion in 1860. Ten years after this splendid victory of the 
Phalanx, in support of their civil rights General Butler, 
then a member of Congress, made an eloquent appeal in 
behalf of the equal civil rights of the negro race. In it he 
referred to the gallant charge of the Phalanx. He said : 
*'It became my painful duty to follow in the track of that 
charging column, and there, in a space not wider than the 
clerk's desk, and three hundred yards long, lay the dead 
bodies of five hundred and fortv-three of mv colored com- 
rades, fallen in defence of their country, who had offered 
up their lives to uphold its flag and its honor, as a willing 
sacrifice; and as I rode along among them, guiding my 
horse this wav and that wav. lest he should profane with 
his hoofs what seemed to me the sacred dead, and as I 
looked on their bronzed faces, upturned in the shining sun, 
as if in mute appeal against the wrongs of the country for 
w^hich they had given their lives, whose flag had only been 
to them a flag of stripes, on which no star of glory had 
ever shone for them — ^feeling 1 had wronged them in the 
past, and believing what was the future of my country 
to them — among my dead comrades there, I swore to my- 
self a solemn oath — may my right hand forget its cunning 
and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I ever ' 
fail to defend the rights of those men who have given their 



Newro Stars in all Ages of the World. 235 



blood tor iiie and my country that day, and for their raxie 
forever. And God helpino- nie, I will keep that oath." 

:Speciul correspondent N, Y. Tribune, 

MILLIKEN'S BEND. 

The foUovvinp: account of the battle of Milliken's Bend 
is given by Captain Miller, an e3^e-witness and participant 
in the same— it therefore deserves full credence: 

** We were attacked here on June 7, about H o'clock in 
the morning, by a brigade of Texas troops, about two 
thousand five hundred in numl)er. We had about six hun- 
dred men to withstand them, five hundred of them ne- 
groes, I commanded Company I, 9th Louisiana. We 
went into the fight with thirty-three men. 1 had sixteen 
killed, eleven badly wounded, and four slightly. I was 
wounded slightly on the head, near the right eye, with a 
bavonet, and had a bavonet run through my right hand, 
near the forefinger; that will account for this miserable 
style of penmanship. Our i^giments had about three him- 
dred im-n in the fight. We had one Colonel wounded, four 
Captains wounded, two 1st, and ?^wo 2d Lieutenants kill- 
ed, five Lieutenants wounded, and three white orderlies 
killed, and one wounded in the hand, and two fingers ta- 
ken off. The list of killed and wounded officers comprised 
nearly all the officers [>resent with the regiment, a majori- 
ty of the rest being absent recruiting. We had about fifty 
men killed in the regiment, and eighty wounded; so you 
can judge of what part of the fight my company sustain- 
ed. I never felt more grieved and sick at heart than when 
1 saw how my brave soldiers had been slaughtered— one 
with six wounds, all the rest with twc» or three, none less 
than two wounds. Two of my colored sergeants were 
killed; both brave, noble men, always prompt, vigilant 
and readv for the frav. 1 never more wish to hear the ex- 



2^i.i Nioificcx- Stars is a-^ul Ag-iw o*' the Wohm^v 

prevssioii ''the niji'gera \Von't fight." Come with nie a him- 
dret] vHrdts tVom whei-e I sit, and 1 vhu show yon the^ 
mounds that cover the bodies of sixteen as hrave, loyal,, 
and pHtriotic soldiers as ever drew bead on a rebel. The- 
enemy (•har<ied us so close that we fou<j:,ht witli our bayo- 
nets, hand-to-hando. 1 have six broken bayonets to show 
how braveFy my men foiioht. The Twetity-' bird Iowa 
joined my conipany on the riji'ht, and I declare tffnthfully,. 
that they had all fled before onr rejjiment fell back, as we 
were all (*on)pelled to do. Under the command of Col. 
Pajie. J led the Ninth and Eleventh Louisiana, when the- 
rifle-])its were retaken and held by onr troops. I narrow- 
ly escapeii death once, A rebel took deliberate aim at me^ 
with both barrels of hiisgnnyand the l)ullets passed so 
close to me that the powder that remained on them bnrnt 
my cheek. Three of my men who saw him aim and fire 
thonght he wounded me each fire. One of them was kill- 
ed by my side, and he fell on me, covering- mj clothes with- 
his blood ; and before the rebel could fire again, 1 blew hit* 
brains out with my gun. It was a hf)rrible fight, t he- 
worst 1 ever engaged in, not even excepting Shiloh. The 
enemy cried 'No quarter!' but some of them were very 
glad to take it when made prisoners, 

"Col. Allen, of the Sixteenth Texas, was killed in front 
of our regiment, and Brig. Gen. Walker was wounded.. 
We •killed about one hundi-ed and eighty of the enemy.. 
The gunboat 'Cho'jtaw' did good work shelling them, 1 
stood on the breastworks after we took them aud gave 
the elevati(ms and direction for the gunboat with my 
sword, and they sent a shell right into theii* midst, which 
sent them in all directions. Three shells fell there, and 
sixty-two rebels lay there wdien the fight was over. 
*********** 

" This battle satisfied the slave masters of the South 
that their charm was gone; and the negro, as a slave wa» 



Negro Stars in akl Ages of the World. 237 

loist forever. Yet there was one fact connected with the 
battle of Milliken's Bend which will descend to posterity 
as testimony against the humanity of slave holders, and 
that is that no negro was ever found alive that was ta- 
ken prisoner by the rebels in this fight.'' 

The eminent Dr. John Ashhurst, Jr., M. D., Professor 
of ( linical Surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, has 
the following to say in his work on the Principles and 
Practice of Surgery: "The behavior of men when shot in 
battle is influenced by a variety of circumstances, thus, 
marked differences have been observed in accordance with 
the race of the person wounded. The Anglo-Saxon is usu- 
ally calm and philosophical ; the Celt is sometimes gay and 
merry, and at other times depressed and gloomy; the Teu- 
ton phlegmatic. The negro soldiers, during our late war, 
were, according to tlie testimony of Dr. Brintonand other 
army surgeons, the most patient and enduring of all our 
wounded. Another peculiarity was, that while the white 
troops of all races almost invariably threw away their 
mnskets, the negro as regularly brought his into the hos- 
pital with him, and was not satisfied to have it taken 
from his sight." 



238- Nkgro Stars m Ai!,it Ages of the WoniiB:. 



CHAPTFR XV. 



CAPABILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES OP THE NEGROES"^ 

OF TO-DAY. 



The article jj^iven below was prepared and read before* 
the National Conference of Colored Men of the United^ 
States, held in the eapitol at Nashville, Tenn., May 6, 7, 8- 
and 9, 1879. Mr. Still is a gentleman of means and cul- 
ture, and is thoroughly identified with every interest ofe 
his race. For the riehness of thought, statistical informa- 
tion &c., contained in the deduction, 1 assume to append 
it for the benefit of all concerned : 

OPPORTUNITIES AND CAPABILITIES OF EDUCATED 

NEGROES. 



BY WILLIAM STILL. 



According to the programme, 1 am to present for the- 
consideration of this conference some thoughts upon the 
"Opportunities and capabilities of educated Negroes." 

Long before the advent of emancipation, and ever 
since the attitude of our people in this country has absor- 
bed no small share of my study, I have looked upon their 



Negro Stars in alii. Ages of the World. 2B9 



^condition with intense interest, feeling to be fully identi- 
fied with them, however regarded. However, in the dis- 
•cussion of the subject, 1 take it for granted that 1 shall 
best meet the required demands by confining myself chief- 
ly to the momentous problem involved in the Negro's sta- 
tus since emancipation. 

To say that the dawn of freedom fifteen years ago 
ifound him ether than very poor, without land, without 
'education., without homes, without protection, universal- 
ly proscribed, and wholly dependent, would be to deny 
facts with which all are familiar. 

Thus -opening his eyes in freedom, and taking his first 
trembling steps in pursuit of his manhood, he is at once 
made to realize the great change in his existence. 

Although without a penny in his pocket, the gnawings 
•of hunger soon admonish him that he must have some- 
thing wherewith to satisfy this demand of nature. He hi 
without a roof over his head. In this condition he is not 
safe either in sunshine or storm. Those who procured his 
'freedom, save the army, are in distant parts of the coun- 
try, far from being accessible to his immediate pressing 
iippeals. But not so with those whom he had so recently 
been compelled to serve. They are all around him. In 
needing shelter, or employment, or a piece of land to till 
or purchase, or a store where to buy his provisions, cloth- 
ing, medicine, or what not; a physician to attend him 
when sick, a lawyer to defend him when in trouble, a scrib- 
bler to write him a receipt or an agreement, or a convey- 
:ancer to draw him up a deed, the only sources to apply to 
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred were those from un- 
der whose yoke he had been delivered. 

Viewed in this light, what possible reason was there 
for supposing ehat millions of .people thus situated would 



240 Megro Stars in all Ages of the \N orlo. 



have other than severe and sore trial.s to enc-umiter for at 
least a score of years before he conld reap hirgely thefruits 
of freedom. Common sense alone would abundantly ])rove 
that without education, however industrious, he would 
be but poorly qualified to i)rotect and economize his hard 
earnings. And without being thus prepared to protect 
himself, how is he to get proi)erty ? How is he to become 
a thrifty farmer or planter? How is he to get a footing 
as a storekeeper or tradesman? How is he to advance 
and become a skilled mechanic, an al)le attorney, a good 
physician, or a man capable of i)roperly divining the word 
of truth in espousing the teachings of the P>ible? 

So long as the masses are found in this uneducated at- 
titude the day is not yet when their j^eculiar troubles will 
cease. The fact that there was a universal hungering and 
thirsting among the freed men when freedom had come, 
and.at the same time a goodly number of noble-hearted, 
Hbertv-loviny: men and woujen in the. North who were 
ready and willing to brave the peiils of the South to help 
sdtisfy this thirst and hunger, is abundant cause for trus- 
ting that the race will in due time be uplifted. 

Surely there never was a people more needy and deser- 
ving of education. And it hardly can be too much to add 
that this generation will find it difficult, in surveying the 
various fields of Christian missions and philanthro])ie 
works, to find any laborers who have more nearly emula- 
ted the example of Him who said, "For I was hungered 
and ye gave me meat; I wasthirsty and ye gavemedrink," 
&e., than some of the teachers among the fieedmen of the 
South, as 1 shall endeavor more fully to indicate in anoth- 
er part of this paper. 

This silent, potent force, this labor of love to God and 
good will to man has kept in a great measurethe headsof 
the freetlmen above the waves and bilh^ws. In the earlier 



Ne&ro Stars in all Ages of the Worlb. 241 

'.lark days of his strug<i:les, seeing his unprotected and 
wretched condition, the governnaent instituted the Freed- 
imen's Rureau with a view of meeting his immediate press- 
ang wants in various ways. Thi-ough this agency a great 
deal was accomplished for a short time, but through the 
;]:)olitidans and bad manag-ement, its usefulness \vas«oon 
tbrought to naught. 

At this grave juncture not a few adherents t^f tlie doc- 
trine of emancipation felt well satisfied that if the ballot 
could only be given to the freed man, he would be well able 
to take care of himself against all odds. According!}^ the 
fifteenth amendment was passed, and the ballot came. 

This boon was regarded as the top stone to the fabric 
;and i complete solving of the Negro problem. 

He is henceforth expected naturally to vote in m body 
for the <part\' who conferred this boon upon him, notwith- 
^standing his want of knowledge and his peculiar surroun- 
■dings. 

In the midst of this unsettled attitude, in order to en- 
•^•ourage his aspirations nnd incite in him habits of econo- 
my, with a view of enabling him to buy property and to 
begin the world more independently, the Freedman's Sav- 
ings and Trust Company was organized. Doubtless this 
•enterjuise liad its origin in the minds of men with the best 
(intentions. And at first some men widely known for their 
worth aTifl devotion to the causae of freedom were among 
its patrons and manag'ers. But soon afterward unscru- 

|julous men, under fair and insidious professions, b}'^ sche- 
ming, effected a radical change in the charter, and thus 
got the control out of the original hands into their own, 
when they kad matters much as they desired them. How 
very sadly the fi-eedmen had to pay for this operation is 
too well known. 

However, in this bold undertaking the most signal 
fact verified was to the effect that even under very great 



242 Negko Stars in ai.l Ages of the World. 



poverty and iji^norance more than 70,000 freed men eouM 
be found reHdy and willing, on simple faitl), to intrust 
their hard earninjsfs to the amount of some f 57,000,000 
to the custody of this concern, under the delusion that the 
goverament was fully obligated for every dollar of its lia- 
bilities, when, in fact, the government w^as not liable for a 
single dollar. 

In recalling the fiery trials and great hardships which 
the fi"eed?nen have bad to undergo from without and with- 
in, my sole motive is only to intensify the fact wiiich has 
nrtwaveringly been paramount in my mind, namely: un- 
der anv circumstances, even the most favoraV)le that rould 
be expected, there are great suffering and veiy hard work 
for the Ne^ro to undergo, in whatever light his coridition 
may be regarded. But under no circumstances is his ele- 
vation to be accomplished and his rights respected, except 
through the medium of education. 

And now I will endeavor to show how the Negj'o's op- 
portunities and capabilities may he made available in re- 
medying his OM-n ills, and in bringing deliverance, not on- 
ly to himself, but in largely adding his quota toward hel- 
ping to bring about fteace, order and prosperity to the 
entire Houth : 

1. He is about the only laborer in the South; he has 
been fully inured to hardshi|>s all his life; he need appre- 
hend no greater danger of having to compete with any 
other class of laborers. In a sense, therefore, he is in an 
attitude, with the aid of some ])ook knowledge, to under- 
stand the value of his labor — capital. With education, 
when he works he will know how much he earns. Many 
ignorant laborers cannot tell. Whsn he spends he will 
know how much he spends; an ignorant man cannot keep 
his account. When he buys a piece of land or undertakes 
to build, he will first sit down and count the cost, to see 



Negro Stars in ai>i. Ages of thk World. 243 

if he is able to finish; or whether some one is a^oitiir to 
])alm off on him a bogus deed or a fravululent ao:reeuient. 
When he works on shares, or deals at stores on eredit un- 
til the crop is harvested, he will know how to keep his 
store book, and the importance of havinj*; his a<;Teement 
and i-eLeipts,&c., carefully witnessed and preserved against 
the time of settlement. In thousands of instances an ig- 
norant man is imposed upon sintply l>eca.use he can be im- 
posed upon with impunity, by men who would not fancy 
being caught acting thus toward an intelligent otte. In 
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred this rule would be like- 
ly to hold good. 

An intelligent man would not feel bound to work un- 
der or rent under a man whom he would have every rea- 
son to believe would beat him when the settling day ar- 
rived. On the contrary, he would not only shun such an 
employer himself, but he would advise his friends to do 
likewise. 

This management, athough silent, would be very po- 
tent in effecting a remedy. The l)etter class of Southern- 
ers would have no fault to find with this course, and the 
high-hande<l and outrageous element would have but lit- 
tle sympathy from any source, and very hard work to 
manage their operations. 

2. With some book knowledge, a man in finding himself 
badly located could readily perceive how a change might 
better his condition. Through the aid of his geopraphy, 
maps, books and papers, and his ability to hold correspon- 
dence with other localities, the way of getting out of his 
present thraldom w'ould not l)e far to seek. 

Everv citizen, white or black is free to exercise this 
privilege in this respect, no one will deny. If one place 



2f'( Nk<jk() Stars in Ai-r. Ages of the Wour^D. 

does not suit hiiu be can go to another of hij? own choos- 



ing 



Here I am reminded that emigration is exciting agooJ 
deal of attention at the present day. 

Never were men more in need of intelligence, in order 
thiat they nvight judge wisely concerning the present exci- 
ting crisis. If not wide awake, they are likely to jump out 
of the frying-pan into the fire. 

But if he can read iae may study and learn what prac- 
tical emigration has done for millions on this continent. 
The great Western States, for instance, afford an oppor- 
tunit}' for a good illustration. Emigration certainly lias: 
been the making of all the Western States, if not of this en- 
tirecountry. It was never conducted, however, under any 
en masse system, but generally on individual account, or 
under the auspices of voluntary small companies. 

While the great !nafority of these emigrants at first 
went poor^ they carried with them a thorough knowledge 
of husbandry, mechanism, storekeeping, trading, and al^ 
kinds of industrial labor; besides very many had been in- 
ured to hardships, and were cpiite willing to rough it in 
the woods, in log-cabins— to begin labor by cutting down 
and clearing up the forestunder great difficulties. Among- 
those thus emigrating were skilled laborers — men who 
could make axes, plows, cultivators and implements of hus- 
bandr3'of every description— men ^ho could not only do the- 
most ordinary manual labor, but could build great bridg- 
es, railroads, steamboats; who had a knowledge of print- 
ing; could publish papers and books, could teach schools 
of learning, from the lower rudiments up to the higher 
mathematics— men who could construct factories, build 
foundries, organize banking institutions, &c. Besides, in 
adjacent parts of the country capitalists were ready, when- 
ever signs indicated successful investments, to furnish alJ 



Negro Staus in all Ages of the WoRLy>. 215 

necessary mejins if oil no other groiinds than sitnply per- 
se iral interest. 

Now, 1 am compelled to say, with deep re^i^ret, that 
our poor j^eople are not prepared to emigrate under any 
such encouraging as|>ects. They have been too long shut 
out from the light of knowledge to be ready for any en 
/??£js.se emigi-ation movement. In going, with very few 
exceptions, they could only hope to find employment as 
hewers of wood and drawers of water, in fields where la- 
borers might be sufficiently nunierous to meet all demands 
either in rural districts or in the towns. Thus with appa- 
rently continued hard struggles only, to combat, the road 
to success would still be dark and discouraging. 

The Great teacher said on one occasion : 

*' For which of you intending to build a tower, sittetb 
not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have 
sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he has laid the 
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold him 
begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build and 
vi'as not able to finisli." 

How applicable this lesson is to everyday life, and if 
heeded how often men would be prevented from butting 
their heads against a stone. With the *'armv of ten thou- 
sand to meet him that cometh with twenty thousand,'' 
the "sitting down and counting the cost" might be of the 
greatest conse(|uence. 

A hint to the wise is sufficient. , 

3. Equality in business. This is a question thatshould 
interest every intelligent colored man. 

More or less from a boy I have studied this question, 
and since emancipation 1 have weighed the situation of 
our people, uneducated and almost universally filling the 
lower callings as laborers, with intense interest. Scarcely 



24B N"EGHO S'TARS IN ALL 'AgES OF IliE Woin'JI?. 

have T ever met an intelligent colored man from the South- 
but that I am sure to ply him \vith a number of questions 
after this order r " How are the freedinen getting on ? Are 
they getting education and into more com for table houses?' 
Are they getting into business; and if so, what? Is the 
marriage relation being more firmly cemented?" Generally 
the answers have indicated much improvement,. in some in- 
some instances very marked^ notwithstandmg the outrages 
neighborhoods. In order that I nmy the more forcibly 
bring out the idea that I wish to- convey, I will' here quote 
an extract from au old lietter written by the poetess and 
lecturer, Mrs. Harper, directly from- the old mansion of the- 
late ex-President of the Confederacy, which reads thus: 

"My Dear Friend: It is said that truth is stranger 
than fiction ;-and if ten years since someone had said that 
in less than ten years you will be in the lecture field ; you 
will be a welcome guest under the roof of the President of 
the Confederacy, tiiough not by special invitation from 
him, that vou will see his brother's former slave a man of 
business and influence; that hundreds of colored men will 
congregate on the old baronial possessions; that a school 
will spring up there like a well in the desert dust ; that his 
former slave will he a magistrate upon that plantation r: 
that labor will be organized upon a new basis; and that 
under the sole auspices of the moulding hands of this man 
and his sons will be developed a business whose transac- 
tions will be numbered in hundreds of thousands of dol- 
lars, would you not have smiled incredulously? And I 
have lived to see the day when the plantation has passed 
into new hands, and these hands once wore the fetters of 
slavery. Mr. Montgomery, the present proprietor, by con- 
tract, of between five and six thousand acres of land, has 
one of the mo»st interesting families that I have ever seen 
in the So uth. They are building up a future which, if ex- 



Negro Staks ik all Ages op the World. 3^V 

•x-eptioiial now, I hope will become more general hereafter, 
^verj- hand of his family is adding its quota to the snc- 
t'ess of this ex[x>ritnent of a i-olored man both trading and 
•farminff on an extensi-ve scale. Last vear his wife took on 
her hands about 130 acres of land, and with her force she 
raised about 107 bales of cotton. One danghter, an intel- 
ligent young lady, is postmistress, and I believe assistant 
bookkeeper. One son attends to the planting interest, 
■and another daughter to one of the stores. The business 
of this firm of Montgomery 4& Sons hasamonnted, I un- 
<lerstand, to between three and kmv hundred thousand 
dollars a vear," 

This was very refreshing news to me when it was first 
received: so nuKjh so that I pnt it into the hands of Cok 
• J. W. Forney, and he published it in tiie Press with a fit- 
ting editorial. One more incident worthy of note, name- 
ly, for several seasons, 1 have been informed, this enterpri- 
sing firm has competed with the leading cotton planters 
•of the South, at the annual fairs held at St. Louis, and 
^two seasons at least has carried off the premiums. 

Here, too, are other notable cases, both male and fe- 
male, who have achieved wonders, considering their op- 
portunities, which might be named, but 1 cannot take the 
time now to particularize them. However, it is with es- 
pecial ssatisfaction that we can point so definitely to a fa- 
mily who have accomplished so much in so short a period 
of time. Indeed this is precisely the kind of power we want 
to see growing among us. True, it makes but little noise, 
but it is very potent in dealing deadly blows against pre- 
judice and in favor of our common manhoqd. 

I apprehend but few conipa rati vely realize how greatly 

■our cause would be strengthened bv even a rerv mode- 

rate number of substantial business men in the various 
l)rancbes of productiveindustry — conducting farms, stores. 



248 Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. 

trades, anfl engaged in literary pnrsuit.s that require 
brains. Tl^ese matters should deeply concern us, especial- 
ly those of us who are educating our sons and daughters. 
Only as we are showing signs of improvement and deter- 
mination in these respects shall we be al)le to retain the 
sympathy and cooperation of our old friends, and enlist 
the interest and agency of new ones So long, or when- 
ever we are not found advancing under freedom, and with 
the opportunity of education, we shall do little toward 
breaking down the color line or toward conquering the 
prejudices which now proscribe our sons and daughters 
who are fitted by education and character to fill stations 
in life other than menial ones. 

I am aware that 1 am now treading on tender ground, 
and would fain forego doing so, if 1 could be just to my 
subject and my unfortunfite race by shunning this unsavo- 
ry truth, upon which 1 think we need have our minds stir- 
red about as much as any other that I know of — of a tem- 
poral nature at least; for 1 feel quite convinced when look- 
ing at the attitude of our people, and the work before 
them, that there is but one way out of the old ruts into 
the liberty and prosperity that we feel naturally and le- 
gally entitled to, namely, simply 'redeeming the time,' by 
intense earnestness, by rigid economy, by encouraging one 
another in i^very honorable and commendable underta- 
king, by acquainting ourselves with the lives and labors 
of good men and women who have labored successfullv to 
bring abont great reforms ; and have had overwhelming 
difficulties to overcome. Also bv studving the lives of in- 
dividuals who have had great poverty to begin with and 
no friends to aid them ; but with undaunted courage, per- 
severance, and a firm faith, have removed the mountain, 
and established themselves among the foremost men of 
their day. Our country is full of characters of thir, des- 



Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. 249 

'cription, both of native and foreign birth, and, I am glad 
to say, some among our people not excepted. 

"Knowledge is powei*," is one among the books we 
■ought to study well, after acquainting ourselves with the 
Book of Proverbs. Also, we should not forget to make 
ourselves famihar with another \yrork of great value, name- 
ly, a volume called ''Pursuit of knowledge under difficul- 
ties.'' 

The lives of self-made men are readily obtainable for a 

mere tritie, and contain generally very profitable and in- 
structive reading, when well selected. By reading such in- 
structive works, and by ignoring all light and trashy lite- 
ratui-e of a yellow-cover grade, we could summon to our 
aid the well-digested thoughts of men of character and 
great success, which would doubtless inspire us gi-eatly 
in struggling through our difficulties. 

The truth is, good books of all kinds are so cheap and 
€ommon, on every vital subject, that no man who can 
read is excusable if he is not well informed generally. In- 
deed, we must make hav wdiile the sun shines. 

For it must be admitted that the public attention is 
in a peculiar sense turned toward us, and in a measure, 
whether we understand it or not, we ai-e held responsible 
to demonstrate by unmistakable signals that we are ad- 
vancing morally, mentally, and financially. 

No5\', it will not do for us to cry, there is a lion in the 
way all the time, but we must move the lions out of the 
way ourselves, owasionally. 

Many of the hardships which daily beset us on every 
liand would soon vanish under intelligent business enter- 
prises and energy. 

In the days of slavery, when many believed and advo- 
cated the doctrine that the Negro had no brains or men- 
tal capacity for business., oratory, or science, our good old 



250 Nrgro Stars i.v ai,l Ages of the World. 



abolition friends wanted m> better combatants to refute 
this fallacy than the fugitive slave, matchless orator, and 
able editor, Frederick Douglas, now the honored Marshal 
of Washington. The priant intellect and powerful elo- 
quence of Rev. Samuel R.Ward proved effective on one oc- 
casion in quelling a New York mob (black as nip:ht, he 
was), when the police force seemed utterly powerless with 
that mob. It seemed almost providential to have such 
men as Henry Bibb, William Wells Brown, J. W. Lo^uen, 
and many others ( who had all worn the yoke, and had 
only released themselves by escaping on the underground 
railroad) demonstrate by their rapidly acquired intelli- 
gence and education that it took but a verv few vears for 
a fugitive to render himself capable of writing an interes- 
ting narrative, or filling an editorial chair, or of instruct- 
ing and entertaining large audiences either in America or 
on the other side of the ocean. 

The freedmen have only to seek to emulate the exam- 
ple of these men in order to make their ujark in business, 
letters, art, or any of the advanced callings among educa- 
ted men. Indeed, only as desert can be proved by the ac- 
quisition of knowledge and the exhibition of high moral 
character in examples of economy and a disposition to en- 
courage industrial enterprises, conducted by men of our 
own ranks, will it be possible to make political }>rogress 
in the face of the present public sentiment. 

Being far behind in the race, our people must not deem 
it too great a requir-ement to be obliged to put foith dou- 
ble exertions to catch up. If they undertake farming, they 
must try not only to have their lands well cultivated, but 
they must have their houses, barns, fences, stock, &c., all 
up to the times. Again, if we turn our attention to mech- 
anism, we must have our eyes single to one paramount 
aim, namely, to let our work prove that there is no color 



Nbgro Stars in all Ages of thk World. 251 



line in mechanism or art. If we should choose to fill a 
sphere of a professional character, as a, physician or attor- 
ney, we must not imagine that our patients or clients are 
ignorant, and will l)e satisfied with mere pi-etension or 
ordinary attainment; and, if we fail of success, that we 
can be>xcused simply by pleading prejudice. If we venture 
to open a shop or store, let us not forget that we must 
not only sell as cheap as anybody else, but we must se!l 
equally as good goods, and at the same time be a little 
more accommodating to every body, without regard to 
race, color or politics. U we would avail ourselves of 
credit, we must lea ni to practice by the rule — our word 
is our bond. By such a single eye to success, however un- 
fair or over-exacting such demands might seem in the eyes 
of some, our advan<'ement would he steady and sure, and 
the results in every waysutticiently gratifying to make up 
for whatever- self-denial and extra pains or labor required. 

One fact all must agree upon, namely: Our condition 
is very lowly, and in many respects sad. And there are no 
signs <liscernible to my mind that we are likely to have 
our status improved very soon, either through politics or 
the liberal l)estowal of land, money or the preferments of 
any positions by the Governnrent. Hence, we have 
nowhere else to look but to self-reliance and to God. 

4. True, we are not friendless. We are not without 
wise and faithful counselors and instructors. We are not 
without sympathizers who pity us and wish us well, if 
nothing more. We are not without a Government that 
acknowknlges us as citizens and equals l)efore the law. 
We ar-e not debarre<l from emigrating to the North if we 
cannot live in peace at the South. We can go to any 
foreign land if we cannot endure our lot in the land of our 
nativity. We are largely accessible to churches, and some 
very good scht)ols have been provided for us. And now I 



2.')2 Negro Stars in all Ages of the World^. 



wish briefl}^ to consider our opportunity with regard tO' 
the educatioiTal work existing-for our special benelit. This 
is an agreeable task, although it would be very hard to 
portray, or even feebly indicate, the labors and achieve- 
ments of the noble-hearted and self-sacrificing men and wo- 
men who have been diffusing education among the f reed- 
men in various Southern States during the last decade. 

Before me I have the annual report of the American 
Missionary Association for 1888, and find that the society 
have 37 schools, colleges and universities in the South, T 
of which are regularly chartered, and are located as fol- 
lows: 

HAMPTON NORMAL AND AGKICULTUEAL INSTITUTE, HAMP- 
TON, VA. 

Number of pupils, 382, The course of instruction em- 
braces three years. During this period the pupils are made 
as proficient as possible in reading, penmanship, arithme- 
tic, United States history, grammar, physiology^ moral 
science, natural philosophy, vocal training, Bible lessons; 
likewise instruction in agriculture, &c.. General S. C. Arm- 
strong being prin2ipal. 

BEREA COLLEGE, BEREA, KY. 

In this institution, under the presidency- of Rev. John 
G. Fee, the peciliarity of the color line is not known. Here 
the higher branches, embracing the classics, are taught, 
and its success has been highly gratifying. 

FISK UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN. 

This widely-known and justly famed university is rep- 
resented by an able faculty and the popular Jubilee Sing-^- 
ers, and, without a doubt, is destined to accomplish a 
marvelous work for freedom, and to live long in history. 
Rev. E. M. Cravath is its president; number of pupils, 



Nkgro Stars in kja. Ages of thk World. 258 



338. The instructions embf-ac-e mental and moral 8ciem«, 
Greek, Latin, French, MatUematics, Music, &c. 

ATLANTA UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA^ fJA- 

Rev, E. A. Ware ia president. Eii|2,iiKli branches and 

the higher ruathenjatic-s are here tauii:ht alwo. Number of 
pupila, 244. 

TALLADEGA COLLEGE, TALLADEGA, ALA. 

rharteixid in 18(>9. Ber. E. P, Lord, priocipaJ. X«m- 
ber of pnpits, 272. Eiiglisli branciies, with higher graxies. 
are also taught in this institiatioo, 

TOITOALOO UNIVEESITY, TOUGALO«l», MTSS. 

There are 190 pupils m the variows departments of 
this institution, with the regular higher hrsiiches taught* 
wnder the presidencv ol Eev. G. Stanir Poj^e. 

STRAHSHT UNITEIRSITY, HEW OELAJfS, LA, 

Here a thorough corps of able professors and teachers 
is found, and the pupils oiiinber 287. President, Rev. W. 
S. Alexander. 

My ail«sion to the work o'f tbe American. Mla^omaxy 
Association must suffer single with these 7 institiitioiis. 
Of course, this only '^simply indicates the gs^eat work that 
is l>eing carried forward in this single direetioM. Tbe re- 
maining 29 schools in ttie South supported bj this of^d- 
izatioii, although d'esersing the higii«st coniim«?jadatioD- 
cannot be characterized here, simply for waat of time and 
room. Indee<l, I regret having to treat in ti*e same man- 
ner eonie fifty or move likeinstitiitions, under the awspite* 
of Methodist, Presbyteiiaii, Protestasit, Episcoj»al frienils, 
&e., who have beei^ quietly thotsgh earnestly pasliingithe 
cause of education effectively among tlie freednj«n. Ad»! 
to this list soMie ^'venteeu th.o:)iog;ica! $5c3j<oo1s, Mniier the 



254 Negbo Stars in all. Ages of the Woklu, 

auspices of various denominations, namely: Congrega- 
tional, Methodist, Presbyterian and Bnptist, and a faint 
idea, at least, may be^atbered respecting- the opportunity 
of the Negro to-day over bis opportunity fifteen years ago,, 
or before freedom was prcK-laimed, 

Material might here be found foi' a large volume of" 
rare interest and great value, and I trust the day is not 
far distant when a colored man of ability will engage in 
the work of diligently gathering these rich materials, and 
will bring forth in a manner not only creditable to himself 
and race, but will also do ecpial credit to the scores o£ 
worthv and faithful teacheis. 

Doubtless the time will come when an enterprising 
historian willtakeadvantage of the opportunity to. honor 
the heroic and brave Christian men and women who have 
faithfully labored in this mission. 

Of two other universities notto allude to would be to- 
leave my task very incomplete, I wish now to speak of 
Wilberforce University, at Xenia, 0., and Lincoln Univer- 
sity, Oxford, Chester county, Pa. Wilberforce is under the 
general conference of the African Methodist Ei)isco{)al 
Church, and chieHy since its organization has been presided 
over by the senior Bisho]) of that ilenomination, Rev. D, 
A. Payne, D. D., in the success of which his whole being 
has been deeply interested, and to make this institution- 
an honor and a powerful agemy to the negro of this coun- 
try, especially that it might appear that a university 
could be conducted under the su])ervision of colored pro- 
fessors, and well-taught students graduated there, who- 
need not be ashamed of their ^//wa Mater; and the suc- 
cess has been highly gratifying in this respect. The clas- 
sics are taught, also algebra, arithmetic, geometry, gram- 
mar, geography, composition, music, &c. While it must 
be admitted that it has had manv head winds to encoun- 



NEdRO Stars in ali. Ages of the Worlb. 255 

ter, it has steadily been growing; in interest and popular- 
ity, and is wielding a commendable influence. Professor 
B. F. Lee, one of its graduates, has been president ever 
since the resignation of Bishop Payne, 

Lastly, I must conclude my notice of the opportunity 
offered our people, by various fountains of learning, sus- 
tained by ])hilanthropic benevolence, by a brief descrip- 
tion of that unrivaled school, Lincoln University. Hav- 
ing been more or less acquainted with its workings for 
the last twenty years, I can speak unhesitatingly. My 
oldest son graduated there; also twoof my nephewsgrad- 
uated in the collegiate course and likewise in the theolog- 
ical, 1 have been personally acquainted with most, if not 
all, of the profess()rs, and have had great opportunity of 
becoming informed about them indirectly through many 
of thestudentsand graduates, and all I need say, is, I have 
the very highest esteem for Lincoln Uuiversity^ 

The following extract of a letter from the president. 
Rev. J. N. Kendall, D, D., received only a few days before 
I left Philadelphia, will indicate precisely what ideas are 
held by the president and faculty with regard to educa- 
ting colored students, and to my mind the argument 18 
unanswerable: 

*'Our desire and aim is to give to the colored youth 
who come to us every advantage in education which we 
ourselves possess. Whatever is good for our minds is 
good for them. If it quickens, if it sharpens, if it refines, 
if it enlarges the view, they need these benefits, and have 
an immediate use for them. It is a great mistake to im- 
agine that the leaders in thought and society among the 
colored people only need to know a little of arithmetic 
and of the other common branches. These are essential, 

but they are not all. Society is to be organized ; churches 
are to l)e established and administered; the principles of 



256 ]Negko Staks in all Aues of the Wokld. 



domestic economy ar-e to be applied, and industry encour- 
aged. It will not answer to make the foundations of 
these wiriest interests nar'rovv. These precious interests 
must be intrusted to the hands of men who have the ad- 
vantage of a liberal culture in the world's experience, as 
it is given in history and in scientific discovery. Above 
all, they ought to be imbued with the principles of Chris- 
tian morality. 

"There is no special morality or gospel for colored 
men. They must have what the world has gained by its 
long experience, add what God has given in his bountv. 
This effort is not premature, so far as it respects the abil- 
ity of the colored youth to profit by it. We have found 
our students able to learn all that we can teach. There is 
the same diversity of talent among them as in others. We 
say this from an experience with both classes. 

Now, I ask, in conclusion, that you will compare the 
opportunities which I have presented with those of fifteen or 
twentv vears ai»o, and see if there is no room for thank- 
fulness and en<;ouragement ; see if there has not been xery 
decided improvement, and see if there is not good reason 
for every one of us to renew our efforts to advance educa- 
tion and true and undefiled religion; to promote more 
economy, moj^e union, more regard for morality, move 
willingness to seek out and extend a helping hand to the 
"million'' who are of the most lowly and degrade(L In 
this wide field, oh, what a strong and clear voice comes 
to us all, heed it not as we may: "He that i-eapetb re- 
cejveth the wages I " ' In the morning sow thy seed, and 
in the evening withhold not thine hand!" " The race is 
not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to them 
that endure to the end I " 

I fear, my friends, that we have hardly waked up to 
liehold what opportunities and capabilities there are all 



Negro Stars in all Ages of the World. 257 



around na, by which we might elevate oiir manhood, and 
forever settle the (jiiestion of our equality before all man- 
kind. 

The author will add that the Shaw University, at 
Raleigh, N. C, Dr. H. M. Tupper, president, and the Liv- 
ingston College, at Salisbury, N. C, Dr. J. C. Price, pres- 
ident, are equal in facilities and influence to any Hke insti- 
tutions South of Washington, 



258 Negro Stars in all Ages of thk World. 



APPENDIX 



ON THE SUBJECT OF INDUSTRY; ON EMANCIPATION DAY. 

JANUARY 1st. 18,S3. 



As to the dark pa^es of the past, we should shut ou^ 
eyes, (I mean both white and colored), wheel in line and 
press foi'ward on the king's highway to life and the pur- 
suits of happiness, "for the times are changed, and we are 
changed with them." I am anxious to witness the rapid 
removal of the evil results of that svstenj of wrong — hu- 
man slavery — that the last ear-mark of oppression may 
vanish from our sight. But this can onlv be «lone through 
the channels of industry Industry is diligence in busmess, 
whether it be that of the merchant, farmer or professional 
man, and generally, it brings along with it both a wealth 
of gold and a wealth of learning. Habits (virtuous hab- 
its) of industry are recommended by the happiness they 
impart. 

Nothing is to be denied to well dii-ected labor, and 
nothing can l)e obtained without it. In order to regain 
the pro(jd station we once held among the ancient States, 
and to fully enjoy the fruits of our unrequited labor in 
thecountry we made to "blossom like a rose," thecolored 



Negro Staes in all Ages of the Woeld. 259 



mail ("God's image CU+ ebon") must educate and become 
freeholders. 

Habits of decency, sobriety, i-leanJiuess and prompt-* 
ness can only be won by industry, but unlike heredita- 
ments, cannot be entailed from sire to son. All these are 
incidents to citizenship; but the pleasures of ahomelesscit- 
izen are dwarfed by this fact. Truly happy is the maia 
whose love and care 

A few paternal acrps bound. 
Content to bi'eathe his native air 
On his own ground. 

The colored man, for instance, finds himself endowed] 
A^ith abilities as varied, rich, durable and praise-worthy 
as any race or people that ever flourished on the earth. 
And the honored task is given us to work out our own 
redemption, by thepropagatingpowerof Industry] which 
is the very mother oi Creation itself. As a laborer the 
colored man's arm has never been equalled. Mark him as 
an incorrigible reprrjbate and as a dangerous man in a 
community who looks upon diligent toil as dishonorable. 
Who has seen the dark face, bedewed with perspiratioii, 
the glittering blade in hand, steadily, cheerfHifj sweeping 
down the ready made, full ripe golden grain and was not 
by that inspired to thought and action? It is beautiful! 
Yet 1 know well that such a t-aliing, carrying with it so 
much bodily exercise, is not very inviting. On every sea, 
in every clime, the deep laden merchant ships, teeming 
with the blessings of food, gold and '-lothing, — comforts 
for the back pocket and the stomach. Every honest dol- 
lar that's used in the course of trade or any other form is 
first leeched out of the hands of the worker. He is the 
prime actor whose pt^rt in the drama of life is t<»effeetnate 
the unsearchable and immutable wisdom of God. He is 
the real agriculturist In the order of men he is a kind of 



260 Negro Stars in ai.l Ages of the World. 



creator. God gave life, but the la borer sustains it.' Before* 
his hand it is a withered leaf, behind him it is a Mesopo- 
tamia, garden of rejoicing, the offspring of industry and 
peace. Nature having responded to diligence and brought 
forth plent}'-. This is the primative occupatio-n, and after 
all it is the most healthful and innocent, the noblest and 
the most useful. 

"In agricultural sections of any country, those wha 
own the land may be said practically to own the people. 
In farming countries there is nothing which can give sucb 
independence as the ownership of a good farm." When 
we see the millions of wealth flowing from the hands of 
the laborer, "the horn of plenty," and see- the broad fields 
whitening with king cotton, the principal com.modity of 
the South, and hear the deep bass of waterfalls accom- 
panied by the sharp treble of thousands of spindles, we 
become conscious of how important it is to obtain a home 
for ourselves and posterity. 

We are poor, because we were and are to-day the vic- 
tims to the avarice of superiors in numbers and intelligence 
What constitutes the difference in the society make up? 
The answer is, so far as livlihood is concerned, opportu- 
nity. The colored man, liberated as he was, with a naked 
back, a penniless pocket, no monied friends, with a bat- 
tery of prejudice all at work against him, he commenced 
life, his onlv stock in trade a skin tanned black and a. 
powerful muscle, in the scramble to make money. Could 
it be expected then that he should succeed better or rise 
faster than he has by the side of the patient, industrious, 
clear-sighted whites who gained their fortune by inheri- 
tance, and know the value thereof? It took the white peo- 
ple of this country nearly four hundred (400) years to at- 
tain their present material status with land and laborers* 
comparatively free. Yet we should not loose sight of the- 



Neoro Stars in all Ages of the World. 261 

fact that in order to insui-e ourselves against any political 
revolution as to suffrage we must be land owners and ed- 
ucated. In this setjse industry implies liberty, as it can- 
not be maintained without it. "Couiing events cast their 
shadows before.'' I predict both a property and an ed- 
ucational qualification law in the near future. In Mas- 
sachuwetts unless you can read and write and have paid 
pro]:)erty tax you cannot vote for certain officers. North 
Carolina and sev^eral other States folloci^ invariaWy m the 
wake of the Bay State. In less than ten years the South 
may tread in her footste[)s. The South sits still and 
watches eagerly the North gate: then when the North en- 
acts a great law the Sunny Sooth inmjetliately copies it. 

The leaders of our race advance this idea with much 
force. One says: 

''The time is at hand in this country when the men 
who live in the rural districts should not be content with 
working for shares of the crops and on rented farms, but 
they should make haste to identify themselves with the 
soil by buying lands, small farms, on which to settle their 
families permanently; and then if they choose to work for 
their wealthier neighbors who own large plantations let 
them do so. But they should have homes and become 
freeholders, to escape the proscription of the laws in cer- 
tain cases, and to secure the contenujent which a home- 
stead alone can bring." 

Not till this is done shall we see the het-tic flush paU- 
upon the cold cheek of race prejudice. 

" Pt)vi»rty parts ^ooA coiiipany," while 

'' The thousan<l His that rise whore nu mey fails, 
Del)t«, thrt'at« and duns, bills, bailiffs, writs and jails'' 

often breaking up the society and steady thrift among the 
jK>oi- and ignorant. — ^Such is the case in blee<iing Ireland 
to-day. "The grasping landlord by the law of might i^< 



262 Nk(}uo Stars in at.l Agrs of the WouhD. 



not content that the tillei- of the soil should reap from his^ 
fields more than will support his immediate wants of' 
food, clothing: and shelter; and thus deprived of the power 
to accumulate money, he is forced to plod on fronT year 
to 3'ear, as a horse in a threshing- machine, without mak- 
ing; a step of headway in the effort of purchase land upon 
whi'jh to provide for his oH'n household." 

Then with what earnestness should we bend our en- 
ergies to the work of property getting, character-sustain- 
ing, morality and education. 

It is true we have a reasonable quota- of snccessfnl f^^r- 
mers dud skilled mechanics and professional nK-n. As the 
gloom of ignorance and hatred disfx-rses, I seethe gradiml 
riseof our people — notsudden, like a sky-rocket — butslow- 
ly, grandly, beautifully, like the rock-ribbed, snow-cap])ed- 
mount, higher and higher, even with scars of the miner'& 
»pade, rising to meet the day-god in his glory. Intelli- 
gence, diligence, manhood,honesty shall be yours. With 
this view of the matter, I have endeavored to sophisticate 
no truth, nourish no delusion, allowing no fear nor selfish 
design to lead me to misconstrue or to put on an extra 
touch, but to tell the plain truth. It seems to be the de- 
light of some to belittle all effort, of any nature whatever, 
made by the colored people; they have my sympathy; 'tis- 
useless to talk history to them. 

OUR AFFLICTIOJf. 

Once shackled limbs, suppressed manhood, tears from 
burdened souls, subdued spirits, have all fied and gone, 
except their lingering effect in the dark region of his ruin — 
gone retreating before a brighter dawn. He is gradually 
rising all along the line, and beginning to understand, 
think and act for himself, w^hile quite a number are mak- 
ing a successful living. The idiotic idea, advanced by a 



Negro Stars m alt. Agks of tiik \\orld. 2(J3 

-few brainless numbskulls, that the Nejrro is, all thin<:;s be- 
jng equal, inferior to the sons of Sheiu and Japheth, is fa- 
ding awav like the morning mist before the glowing sun. 
The Negro may be a mere pigmy now. but just give him a 
i'air showing-, an equal opportunity, and he will prove a 
giant in the fight, ready, in case of emergency, to die for 
the Soutli, and his country, generally. Y3S, cutting and 
<iigging, teaching, preaching and building, sowing and 
reaping on the grand highway of progress. Therefore, 
these considerations bring along with them new and try- 
ing i-esponsibilities, demanding greater efforts to obtain 
education and property, that w<i may fall in the train of 
their joys and comforts through the means of industry. 

This is the age of farms and machinery, not of who is 
the whitest, blackest, or who is master by birth or color, 
but who is the man that meets t.ie demands of the hour. 
Notwithstanding we have made some headwayin spite of 
^unfavorable circumstances, we inihst and shall look up, 
aim higher, and save the earnings of our labor. Morality 
is an industry. 1 am aware that education and wealth 
have their evil effects in certain ways, and I would to Al- 
mighty God that base men vYOuld cease to apply their ill- 
gotten advantage to degrade poor simple-minded colored 
;girls, who, as soon as thej"^ begin to bloom as the lily, are 
sought out and hunted home in darkness with fascinating 
allurements and bewitching charms to destroy the young 
child's moral life, and then charge their own gross crimes 
to the whole of the Negro race. It is terrible, yet true! 
I appeal to the decency and justice of the neighborhoodb 
to put it down, by mild means if possible, but if not, then 
■bv force. 

My advice is, widen your fields, train your sons and 

•daughters up in school and useful emj)loyments at home. 
I have never known anv one to be defiled at home. Only 



2fi4 Negro Stars in ai.i> Ages of the Woui^d. 

when hiretl ont and made to sleep in the kitciiens of those 
who do not esteetn her worthy of their guardian care and 
instruction. All employers are not so. 

If the Negro is let alone, paid reasonable wages, and 
treated with equal justice, the race problem is then alrea- 
dy solvefl. Justice is no problem. Respect the Negro a« 
a citizen, and he will solve the problem for the world. It 
may be a problem with some men as to how they can 
keep the Negro down. Every Negro who succeeds in an 
honorable endeavor solves the psendo problem. Every 
in fraction of the Negro's natural or constitutional rights 
throws back the milleniom of peace and the era of good 
feelings. The only reasonable problem is when shall those 
who have wronged him make timely honorable amende 
to him. 

The Negro has a destiny or problem to solve and it 
must be solved right here in the land of his captivity, in 
then)idst of those who doubted his manhood and capacity 
Money and learning, embracing in their ample folds mor- 
ality, can move mountains. 

In Scotland Neck township, Halifax county, the col- 
ored men own 3,71<*acres of land, upon which they raised 
last year 601 bales of cotton and 10,500 bushels of corn. 

In Richmond county, N. C, the colored people own 
7,720 acres, besides town lots. They own more or less in 
all the counties in the State. Our people of Georgia are 
worth, it is said, $25,000,000 in p»-operty ; in Louisiana, 
135,000,000.— Look at the Chesapeake Marine Railway 
and Dry Dock Company of Baltimore! 

The Charleston News and Courier says: "Randall 
D. Geoige, the colored man who recenth' bought the 
Reneker lands in Colleton county for $20,500 cash, has 
been making preparations for an accurate survey of his 
property. He is, it is said, the largest land owner in Col- 



:SiE<iRO Stars in all Ages of the World. 265 



Lleton. He is quiet, unobtrusive and business-like in his 
auanners. Georij^e is a staunch advocate of the proposed 
rraih'oad from Green Pond to Branchville. He not only 
:«i^ned the petition to the county commissioners, bat gave 
.|25 to the corporators to assist in preliminary work, 
;and expresses a willingness to take $5,000 worth of stock 
•to carry the road through to Branchville," 

Under the caption of '^Colored Merchants," the Savan- 
nah (Ga.) Echo says, and we take real pleasure in futher 
echoing it abroad: 

"We know a colored firm in Georgia who handle 
•about 3,000 bales of cotton per year, at a value of $150,- 
«000, and whose credit is rated in Davis' Cora mercial 
Register at from $10,000 to $20,000. In this city we 
have colored firms engaged in diierent branches of busi- 
ness with capitals ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, and 
who have annual incomes of from $900 to f 5,000. To 
particularize would be invidious, and we only mention 
«one instance to show that we are dealing with facts and 
iiot drawing upon our imagnations: The firm of J, H, 
Brown & Co., Booksellers and Stationers have an annual 
income of $2,000, credit rated in commercial circles at 
from $2,500 to $3,000, and their annual cash sales ag- 
gregate $5,000. All of the prominent cities and towns of 
our State have their quota of colored merchants, and 
taken as a class, they certainly present an irrefutable ref- 
utation of the argument that persons of color are void of 
business qualifications. ****** 

From this it seems in a few years A'e shall be able to 
istand alone. 

"Many thousand years ago a tiny coral began a reef 
iui)on the ocean's bed.— Years rolled on and others came.. 
Their fortunes united, and the structure grew. Genera- 
tions came and went. Corals by the millions came, lived 



2fi6 Negro Stars in all. Ages of the Woki.d. 



und died, each adding^ his mite to the work, till at last 
the waters of the g^'tiiui old <x-eaii broke in ripples around 
it^ tireless head. And now, as the traveler t»;azes upon 
the reef, hundreds of miles m extent," he can but faintly 
i-ealize what ji^retit results will follow an united^ deter- 
i«ined, et'Ofiomical, pei-severing^ action. 

^' It 5ft* rising, Hiving, doing, that bring® the hearts, de- 
sire/' In eont-hision, the work of oor elevation, and re- 
demption is in our own hands; thtrefore let's worthily 
perform the task better than anvothei-seould do it for us^ 
and proTe to the wondering worJd, while many areeon- 
.snlting "What shall b*^ done with the Negro," that oor 
station is and ever shall l)e in the galaxy oJ earth'B 
noblest, pwrest and be^t raees. 



AN KXTRACT FROM A SPEECH DELIVERED BY W. H. 
QUICK, C0IJ:>RED, on the occasion of THE"EMAN- 
t'lPATION (EJLEB RATION," JANUARY 1 ST, 1883. 



What remains for as to do is to struggle on, deter- 
mined to fonquer in the battle of life, remembering that 
every one of ws that gets up in the world makes it easier 
for the rest, 14* vf>o help one, that helps yon. And let us 
ail, white and colored, remember that our lots are east in 
onet'oentry, and the same cause: that our destinies are 
ideotieah Let us remember, too, that tl>e proudest title 
any of as •i-an bear is that of a citizen of the Amei'iean Re- 
public — Columbia, our jewel, Amerii'a, our country, from 
Maine to Mexico. May she live in peace, harmony and 
pi"Osperity, ever flowing, while with joy in every vein, one 
faith for public good, sti'ong to honor and obey. Yes, we 
are one body, one people. When one member suffers we 
all suffer; when the one prospei-s we all rejoice. 

White and colored are embarked on one common bot- 
tom, and whether we sink or swim, we sink or swim to- 



Neoro Stars in x\a. Agks of the World, 2*?7 

gether. This being Irne, we slitudd assist bv every pos- 
sible means in <Mir power in pushing <M North Carolina 
to the verj' head of the sisterhood of States. As long as 1 
have faith in the Almighty God I cannot despair f)f the 
Negro. Unlike the Boors of Denmark, the Traals of 
S weed en, the Serfs of England, or the Helots of Sparta, 
he is convinced thatindiistrj' aadintelligeace must govern 
his conduct. 

When the whites and the colored nnderstand each 
other l>etter they will like each other better; that is, the 
one will trust the other further, politically. In less than 
ten years the political field will be thoroughly renovated. 
But the whites must for^t their pi-ejudic-e and disciim- 
inati(»n against us because of our color, which is clean and 
Ood given. — The press must cease to magnify our faults. 
The press, (he teacher of public opinion, is entitled to a 
great deal morecr-edit than is Ijestowed, and is blainable 
where it is not charged. 

Soon it will not he a strange thing to see a colored 
democrat and a white republican rivaling for the honored 
favor of the peoi)Ie. I mean both races will be divided 
pretty etpmlly between both parties. Such a change 
would meet the approval of the ivisest and best men of 
the country. 

I do not want to see anything of ill feeling or want of 
confidence (a child of slavery) exhibited in the conduct of 
the people, white or black one toward the other. I clon^t 
want my eyes to behold, ever again, any unreasonable 
discrimination practiced against any man, thus poisoning 
the very air we breathe— the genius of America. I lion'f 
\vish to s(^ the co7or Him destroying the interef^t of the 
black and the white man. I doiit want to see a close 
partr ///je drawn, and running l:)et ween and dividing the 
two races respectively, but that noble feeling, the consiim- 



268- NEGKti STAKS VS AI-L AtiEH OF THE WoHIl>, 



ation of true statesmanship, [>ervading- the breast off 
every man. I want that sentiment administered in our 
courts of jnstice; 1 want it enacted in onr legislature: — 
One people, one God,, one country; equalit}^ j^stice and 
Mbertv for all L 



CORRESPONDENCE AND ADDRESSES. 



The following appeared in The Charlotte Messenger,. 
a weekly ne\vs))aper Uy W.C. Smith, Esq^, March 10th 
1888. The editor in referring to it said ; 

[We publish this week an articlefrom Mr. W..H. Quick, 
which is lengthly, but well worth the reading. He touches* 
two'ofthe vital points in reference to our welfare as as 
race land and morals. Head his letter. Ed.} 

BUY LAM) ! BUY LAND ! RUY LAND I 

Denr Editor— Your editorial of the ISth ult.., in the 
Messenger on the subject of homes has doubtless aroused 
many lethargic brethren. 1 love to discuss the subject . 
and think it ought to be made an all-absoi-bhig topic so 
long; as we are situated as we are. 

For as a nation mnst have territory in order to sur- 
vive the ravages of time, and to meet the increasing de- 
mands of an ever-growing population, so must a race, 
mingling and comminling with other races, have land and 
homes if it would mahitam its virtue and social identity- — 
not content to merely exist, homeless— aimless. There is 
no act, art, possession, or species of property that tends 
more to interest, unite, control, mould nnd elevate men's 
character, society, and even the law itself, than the sub- 
ject of land. 

Four (4) years in constant attendaence upon thr 



Negro Stars ix ai.l Aggs op the World, 2B9 



Courts furnisli me abundant opportunity to observe (and 
with 8on)e dejiree of pleasure) the earnest, honest conten- 
tions of parties— differences orrovving- out of the nature, 
and condition of real estates, and rights, and benefits 
arising!; from the satue. 

These cases occupy two-thirds of the time of the courts 
And each contestant herein seems a rival lord seeina: and 
contending on hair splitting evidence for his kingdom. 
Can we live hone^st to ourselves and just to our faoiilies 
and our country without properly and timely playing our 
part well in the dr-ima of life as becomes freemen ? A fcn-e- 
rnan worthy of his steel ! No ! 

There is one great move needed to change onr monot- 
onous condition— not to the East, West or North nor anv 
where else in particular, but to move from the tenant's 
cabin to the landlord's mansion— to premises of our owd. 

And there mise our dear little ones, (not suffering to 
iJrag them up as is too often the case in some towns) on 
home raised "hog and hominy." 

(.'han^e your condition as cropper for some body else 
or that of a dodging, cringing, scraping, bowing dome^itic 
to that of a manly, self-supporting citizen "to the manor 
born." Subjects of charity, whether white or colored, are 
not looke<l upon by many as being entitled in many re- 
spects to the full measure of consideration— the same 
priviliox?s and immunities as they do those who enjoy the 
fruits of their labor, investment and economy. 

There are unsullied virtues in the country and count- 
less millions of wealth in her forests— rich springs of jov 
and health inviting and awaiting our peo])le's coming. 
The wolf is not very far from the door of a whole race; 
for the sake of the great unknown and unknowable 
Father let us fight him off with strong heart and hands. 
Our chief strength lio^ in our young men and women. Can 



270"^ N«aRO Stars i?f ai-ij Agrs otp the W(mi;Dj 

we afford to Baerifiee oiirbovs to the pit-falls of city slums 
any more than we should force our dau<ihters into the 
embrace of the seducer? Has your little town pride- 
dressed up in the clothes of a du<3e any of the elements of.^ 
ju an hood in them? 

Should our parents stop paying from fHto $5 per acre 
a>s rent for land that they can buy for $8 or .f 10 per aci-ey. 
our youth will remain ar home to aid and bless us in our 
declining years,- while we shall leave these shores satisfied 

that our life's labor will remain to be enioved l)v those- 
that we love and those that love ns in return. 

Spread out before me, ]iortrayed in living colors,, 
upon the canvas of my mind, is the })icture of a well 
worked field, laden with the delicacies of life. Just back 

of it I see a beehive, cotton factory, hear the deafening- 
hum of loom and si)indle; there anjong the ridges 1 see the 
farmer and OAvner of the pi-emises turning the clod as the- 
fresh earth is bursting at his feet with the swelling seed 
of the coming new crop as his pockets jingle with the- 
silver saved out of his last croyj which is being twisted by 
machinery into thread and cloth. 

Then who would not be the provident owner of sucR^ 
a home? Who could despise such a propitious show ol 
success? If we cannot be a. manufacturer we can be more,, 
we can draw the raw material and fleecy locks from a 
mere seed by dropping it into the earth. 

In this way we not only make a living, and raise^ 
worthy men and women, but make up good race history 
also. 

The soldier who with no "home and fireside" to en- 
courage, animate and embolden him in the great battles 
of country has not much to fi<2ht for. 

Even his Satanic Majesty over slradowing a little 
rough hill and hedge on a high pinnacle, in company with 
Christ, once bethought himself right royal heir presump- 
tive to all the lands, wood, and waters within this limited 
radius of hispurview, "together with all thehereditament.s 
and appurtenances thereto belonging or in any wise ap- 



Negro Staus ra acl Ages of the World. 27 



;pertaining-," with no one to "molest or make him afraid,'' 

• his first object was to win 1 he favor amrinfluenee of Jesns 
'^'hrist, fee (the devil) simply told Christ that he was the 

• owner of all the land he saw aronnd there. He prided 
himself on the idea that even the son of God wonld 

;bovv down to a landk)rd. Of lourse he did not mean to 
'damao-e Chi'ist, but was only tryiqg to.play-^ as a land- 
lord. 

We are not confined to the arrogance ciif the prince of 
night for an impetus, but have an ennobling example in 
the person of pdtriachal Abraham who was only a so- 
journer in the land oithe Heths, bought a spot while there 
Which to liim would be sacred— in order that he might 
■establish his interest there and consequently have his 
rig'.its and manhood protected while he was thus unset- 
ttled, paying to Ephron for Machpelah "four (400) hun- 
dred shekelsof silver, current money with the merchants," 
•equal to about $250 of our money, for an old field in the 
country that had a great eave in it. But Abraham knew 
•how to make a man of himself, and he did it. He became 
^'a mighty prince." Again while he was passing through 
the dominions of Abimelech he dug him a well and upon 
that account, ckimied equal rights and equal protection 
under the law of that country ; he dug the well for that 
■purpose and we see his son Isaac about 90 years after- 
wards coming up with an air of filial pride contending 
-with the Philistines for the property as heir to his father 
:and certainly he was allowed to take and enjoy it in 
peace. 

Would Burns ever have made fame or even a name for 
himself or a pea n to the honor of his country had he 
sauntered around Edinburgh? No. As the sweet muses 
sang in his great soul he moved into the country among 
the hills where he could work, think, read and write. 
Here Burns literay glory depended upon his first procur- 
ing Him a little homestead. Some of our starched fellows 
would turn up their noses if they v^-ere asked to take a 
home in vsuch a rural district. 

There is the poet-laureate of a hardy people on a high, 
srocky knoll, sloping down to the liver Tieth which, as it 



272 NEiiRo Stars in a/>l Ages of the World. 



rolls in suf)erb tranquility before his own placid eyes 1 see 
hitn plon.crhing- as he sin«T5 his own immortal verse, ''a 
man's a man for a' that" or perhaps that other melodious 
strain : 

"My father was n farmer on the Carrieh border. 
And soberJv he brought nie up in det-ency and onJer, 

To improve both air and soil, 

I drain and decorate this ])lantation of willows 

"Which Avas lately an unxirofitable njorass ; 

But here from noise and strife, love to wander. 

Now fondly making^ progress of my trees. 

If it please Almighty God, 

May I often rest in the evening of my life. 

Near that transparent fountain. 

On these banks of the Teith. * , 

Tn this small but sweet inheritance of roy fathers. 

May I and mine live in peace 

And die in joyful hope." .j 

This is a beautiful picture of a beautiful country home 
Let more of us bend our energy to do likewise. Can we as 
individuals or as a race achieve any degree of merit or ^ 
maintain the little that has been bestowed upon us by 
leading- a nomadic, a hireling life? 

As we improve ourselves in the moral, social, and ma- 
terial world the State improves its policy toward us. 

Twenty years ago (1868), the defendant in the Stnte 
vs Ta>'/or appealed to the highest appellate court of this 
State because there whs a colored man on the jury, but 
after some vears of gradual improvement, a few months 
since, the defendant in the case of the SUiie vs Shun ex- 
hausted the judiciary of the great State of North Carolina 
because there was not a colored man on his jury. ^ ^^ 

We see plainly that in proportion as we come within. > 
the pale of the landlord, of acquirement and posses*sion,' 
our rights, service, manhood, involving the foundation 
elements of our citizenship, will be all the more appreci- 
ated and protected Excuse length .—Moi-e anon. 4^ 
I am vours for the good of all men. 

W. H. Quick. 



ERRATA. 

V page 139, at bottom, omit "lives" after the name of Tous- 

•ti page 158 read defended for " defeated." 
On page 168 read compiled for "compiled." 



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